CARE workers in Wales should be treated and valued in the same way as NHS staff, the Senedd’s Health Committee has said.

In a report published this week, the committee has called on the Welsh Government to take urgent action to support both employed and unpaid carers.

It notes the intense financial and emotional strain carers are under during the pandemic and calls on the Government to prioritise urgent reform to provide long term and sustainable social care funding.

The work of unpaid and young carers, and the emotional and financial toll the pandemic has had on them, was of particular concern to the committee.

Their report refers to a Carers Trust Wales survey on the impact of the pandemic on young carers, which revealed a steep decline in the mental health of  thousands of young people who have been providing unpaid care at home for family members or friends.

It notes they are problems that already existed prior to the pandemic, but have been exacerbated by home-schooling and lack of socialisation.

According to the charity, Carers Wales, more than a quarter of carers are struggling to make ends meet due to the extra financial pressure of the pandemic.

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Among the recommendations made in the report, the committee calls on the Welsh Government to identify what is being done to professionalise the social care workforce in order to create clear career pathways for social care workers.

It also calls for sustainable funding for young carer services, and prioritising face-to-face support for young adult carers.

Dr Dai Lloyd, the committee’s chair, said: “Unlike the NHS, which everyone will have accessed at some point in their lives, the social care sector is largely invisible except to those who need its support; to them it is invaluable.

“Covid has brought to the forefront the massive contribution our social care workforce makes in keeping our most vulnerable citizens safe.

“It has also highlighted the need for reforms and a long-term, sustainable funding arrangement for social care that has long been talked about and is long overdue.

“It’s time for care workers to be put on an equal footing with NHS workers, both in their employment terms and conditions and the way in which they are perceived."

“Today we’re calling on the Welsh Government to make urgent changes to support the critical work that carers, employed or unpaid, carry out every day to protect and support our most vulnerable citizens."

On Wednesday, March 17, the Government announced an additional £500 payment for all health and care staff in Wales.

Meanwhile, Plaid Cymru has called for the Government to end disparities in pay between NHS staff and carers, and promised a minimum wage of £10 an hour for carers across Wales, if the party is was to form Wales' next government.

Plaid Cymru’s Shadow Minister for Health, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said: “The public has clapped for our carers, now it’s time for government to step up and put a value to the clapping.

“For our carers, who have put so much into looking after us during the biggest public health crisis in our lifetimes, it is the very least government can do for them.”

  • This article originally appeared on the Argus' sister site The National.