Unison has urged a Liverpool care firm to “rethink its plans” and warned of serious consequences for the delivery of services
Care worker Paula Edwards(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Staff at a Liverpool care firm said they are “heartbroken” after plans were submitted to significantly alter their working conditions. UNISON are in contact with the people impacted by the changes, and said they could lead to “serious consequences” for the delivery of vital services.
The Liverpool ECHO spoke to someone currently employed in Nugent’s support team, who said the company’s management want to introduce new shift patterns. As a result, staff based at Nugent’s head office on Edge Lane, told us the new rotas are not workable, and means long-term, dedicated carers would be forced to leave their jobs.
The ECHO spoke to Paula Edwards, 58, who is a specialist support worker and has been with Nugent for more than 35 years. Paula said she has always loved working for the company, and supporting people with complex needs is her life’s passion, including caring for her two siblings.
Paula said: “Several staff members have been there for over 25 plus years, and they’re so dedicated and show care and compassion every single day. We all love our jobs, but over the last few years it feels like things have got more and more squeezed, less about care and more about business.
“At the minute, we work 9am until 4:30pm, and theses hours work for service users, families, and staff, and are well established.
“The plan to change the shifts has not involved staff, service users or their families. They want to introduce 7am to 2pm shifts and 2pm to 10pm shifts and it seems there’s been no assessment on how this will affect all the people involved.
“These hours do not suit our service users, and staff have voiced their concerns because they cannot accommodate these hours, due to family commitments.
“I have a brother and sister, both with complex needs, and I couldn’t work those hours, due to me being their sole carer. My siblings lack the capacity to be left alone, so they rely on me.
“I’m committed to them just as I’m committed to the person I care for in the community.”
Responding to the points raised by its staff, a spokesperson for Nugent told us: “Nugent has engaged with colleagues through a consultation process, and we are now implementing updated shift arrangements to ensure our services remain safe, consistent and sustainable for the people we support.”
Nugent head office on Edge Lane (Image: Google)
Paula said staff put their concerns to management and asked what would happen if they could not commit to the new terms, and what would happen to the firm, she added: “We were told it would close down.
“We have stayed with Nugent, because we care deeply for our service users. The staff are an absolutely amazing, caring, loyal and compassionate group, who have dedicated their lives to caring for vulnerable people.
“It feels like we have been treated with no compassion, and that our service users, their families, and staff have been disregarded.”
A spokesperson for Nugent said the changes are part of a plan to improve ‘continuity of care and workforce resilience’, adding: “We remain committed to open communication and to supporting both staff and families through these changes.”
However, Paula said there has been little support offered thus far, adding: “They’re putting us in an impossible position, and if it goes ahead, I just won’t be able to carry on, and I’ll lose something I dearly love.
“My instinct is to try and hold on in some way, because me and some of my colleagues, well, some of us are a certain age now, and we’re scared no one’s going to want us.”
Paula and her colleagues are members of UNISON and are hoping the union can help them fight to keep their current working conditions. The ECHO reached out to the union to ask what it’s doing to support members.
UNISON North West regional organiser Dale Ollier told us: “This is deeply worrying for staff and anyone who relies on the exceptional care they provide.
“Any changes that make it trickier for workers to do their jobs will have serious consequences for the delivery of services.
“Nugent must rethink these plans and work with all its employees to find a solution that works for them and the community.”
In terms of the future and what happens next, Paula said she is living with constant anxiety, adding: “I’m also afraid for the people who rely on us for support, because this affects their lives as well. I have a lady who I’ve been supporting for a long time and we have a great relationship.
“She also has a definite schedule and routine which she relies on, accesses local amenities, the gym, social gatherings, and she really enjoys it. But they all have set times which fit into the current structure, something we’ve worked hard to establish, and now that’s all at risk.
“The people I’ve spoken to are very very anxious about these changes, and that’s just the ones who have the capacity to understand what’s happening. For the people who don’t have that capacity, I can only imagine how devastating this could be for them, as well as their carers.
“It’s all extremely sad for everyone involved, and just heartbreaking to think about what will happen”