THE dedication of nearly all of those who work for our old people in Lancaster and Morecambe is way beyond doubt.

That's why one female carer felt the need to contact this newspaper after two recent articles revealing the stresses on carers at social services.

She wished to remain anonymous because she still works for a private company hired by the county council.

She made the points that the carers are poorly paid (their pay was increased to national minimum wage level, £3.60, when it became law), some old people can be very rude to the carers (one called her 'my slave'), they often have to be at another call across town at the same time as they are supposed to leave an appointment, they work extremely long hours that can contravene legislation and many carers actually call in to check their clients are well in their spare time.

She added: "I came into this after after recovering from an illness. People had looked after me and I wanted to give something back. That's why I'm extremely dedicated to this and that's why I'm calling. Me and some other carers were talking about the articles in the paper and were saying 'why doesn't someone call and give our side of the story.' There are bad carers but a lot are young girls. The truth is this isn't really a job for them - it's for people who've lived a bit.

"It's a hard, badly paid job. We have to pay for own transport costs for example and it can be soul destroying. But I know many carers who do the job for weeks without a day off just because they don't want to let their clients down. They want them to know they are there. It's the system and the penny pinching that's wrong."

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