Care: The Cost of Petty Politics

How has the most humane work in our society been devalued and allowed to deteriorate for so long? By James Bloodworth

Ten years ago this month, I spent several weeks working undercover as a domiciliary care worker in Blackpool.

I had gone there while researching a book about low-paid work in Britain and, after answering a few rudimentary questions over the telephone, found it disconcertingly easy to land a job looking after some of the most vulnerable people in the country.

The company was called Carewatch. I had no previous professional experience of social care. I had once helped look after my grandmother’s friend, who had dementia, but otherwise I was a complete novice.