Health Carers in the UK

[Kuya Allen]

I need to remind all those working as Health Care Assistants (HCA) / Senior Health Care Assistants (SHCA ) in the Private Health Sector, ie Nursing/Residential/Care Homes.

Its now a requirement especially in the renewal of your Work Permit / Visa to have NVQ Level 3 in Health Care / Social Care, whether you are a H/C/A or S/H/C/A.

A Filipina here nearly 5 years has had her application for the renewal of her Work Permit refused because she only has NVQ Level 2, Work Permits UK do not believe she is functioning as a S/H/C/A after nearly 5 years in the UK.

She declared that her employer stated she would commence NVQ 3 later this year, no good says WPUK.

Her Work Permit / Visa expires on the 22nd July 2007, her husband works on her Work Permit and both work for the same company and worse have 2 children in Primary School.

Even worse, she cancelled her membership of the Trade Union in 2004, because she had financial problems, I don't believe her, she could not afford less then £10 per month union memmbership fee ??.

Like many Filipinos, do not seem to realise the importance if working in Health Care to join a Trade Union, she was probably thinking why do I need to be a member of a Trade Union, a waste of money, that's why she cancelled her union membership.

What happens now, well she and the husband can no longer work from the 22nd July 2007, so how will she pay her rent, pay her bills, feed her children.

Had she been a member of the Trade Union, any Trade Union, she could of applied for Welfare and the free services of a Attorney from the UNION.

Now I have informed her, she is entitled to make an Application for Indefinate Leave to Remain on the 12th July 2007, however how long does it take for this application to be processed. She needs Legal Advice to make sure she make the Application for Indefinate Leave to Remain correctly, however Attorney's skilled in Immigration Law cost between £150 / £250 per hour plus VAT.

Members of UNISON or any Trade Union get this Legal Service as part of the monthly membership fee FREE. UNISON have a firm of Solictors called Thompson & Thompson with a staff of over 800 spread thru out the UK and employ specialist Immigration Attorneys.

One joins a Trade Union in part as an Insurance for a Rainy Day, well her rainy day has come, as a Trade Union Branch Officer, I can only advise her, the local Catholic Priest called me to help.

What a mess.

If you are working in Health Care gets yourself into a Trade Union ASAP, whether you agree with Trade UNIONs or not, is not the issue, in a Trade Union you can call on guys like me for help, I'm a Ex Siminarian, Registered Nurse, long time union man and I will fight your corner, whether you are Guilty or Not.

It makes my heart cry, when a Filipino calls me, " Please KUYA ALLEN help me, but I have a problem, I'm not in the Trade Union, oh no, my heart sinks to the floor.

Other Filipinos call me, Kuya Allen, I have a problem, but I'm afraid, " what are you afraid of " ~ " How much do I charge " ~ " how much do I charge " I'M FREE Filipinos don't know Free, even in the UK, we are aware that nothing in the Philippines is Free.

Please my dearest Filipinos ( i love you all ) and all other Nationalities, join the Trade Union, don't break my heart, I like to sleep at night and I have enough grey hair.

Kuya Allen

[Julia]

It's very strange that an NVQ level 3 is such an important piece of paper these days. My husband has been a bricklayer for 30 years but he now needs an NVQ level 3 to get a card (called a CSCS experianced workers card) so that he can work on large building sites. At first he was very angry because he thought he would have to pay to go on a college course, but he has since found out that he can have an OSAT (on site assessment)which will give him an NVQ level 3 equivalent. It is such a shame that there is not a similar scheme for people working in healthcare. It's crazy though isn't it if you have an NVQ level 3 in anything it does not mean that you are any good at it does it? Being in a job for years without getting sacked is better proof that you can do the job. Good luck to the people who you wrote about

[joebloggs]

did the gov not give notice period that they would need NVQ level 3 ? but still how would she or anyone else know of the change, unless the gov told them directly. rules are changing all the time. and does the union inform its members of these changes maybe the gov told the care homes to?

and shes nearly done her 5 years , after 5 years, maybe she could have applied for ILR.

as for the £10, i cannot afford it really, i prob wouldnt pay it, with a baby and 2 kids, it be near one of the last thnigs on my list ..

oh you anwsered my question on ILR, she dont need to pay £150+ an hour to an immigration lawyer, she can get free legal advice from a law centre near her, or other immigration charities. like i have used.

as for figihting your corner if guilty or not, i wouldnt want anyone to fight if i was gulity ..

iam not knocking unions, i wish i had a union at work , £10 a month is not a lot, but i can see why some people dont pay it, they pay every month, and they may never use the union services. and when you've got kids to feed or pay the union, you know which comes first. like insurance its only worth the money when you come to make a claim, and if you dont have any, then its too late, and you wished you had

i can see why you need level 3, but people should be given time to acheive it and also they should be told about it,there are people still out there who dont know about the 'living in the uk test' yes its been on the news, but they haven't been told directly.

[Peanutz]

i can see why you need level 3, but people should be given time to acheive it and also they should be told about it,there are people still out there who dont know about the 'living in the uk test' yes its been on the news, but they haven't been told directly.

I have heard about the "living in the UK test" as I learned about it you take that test when you are applying for ILR? I can't remember if applying for provvisional you are also obliged to do that test? I also read that it cost like £38 for one exam and if you fail you can do it again without any limit. What do you guys think about this test? Is it really helpful?necessary?

[walesrob]

As someone who used to work at a Resdential Care Home as an administrator, I can sympathise with Kuya Allen. We had staff that had worked in a care home for 20, 30 years, plenty of experience, but were all forced to take NVQ2 or lose their jobs. For those who don't know what NVQ2 involves, its basic common sense stuff, like how to open doors and how to greet people. While I agree there is a need for a common standard of training, telling perfectly good and capable staff with many years experience they must be retrained is a farce. How about the whole of the British Government be retrained to take NVQ3 in how to run the country. I remember Care Standards Inspection days, utter nightmares. One year they'd say, for example (true story) you must only dispense medication in a cup, then the following year, they'd say, now you must NOT use a cup, but hand the medication over to the "service user". Then they wanted employee records kept in a certain way, then next year they would say, no, you must now do it this way, then they give you 14 days to comply, otherwise they will take "action" against you. Glad I'm out of it, retail seems a walk in the park in comparison.

[joebloggs]

my mom is in a residential home, and before we 'put' her in the home, we looked at about 6 local ones, and believe me, i was horrified by most of them, they looked like Lunatic Asylums from the 1950's. i wouldn't even put a scouser, or my dog in there, never mind my mom.

on another point about care homes.. a warning from me..

in the end we found one within a few mins walking distance from my sisters house, and its a nice place. and they charge more than the council will pay, so i have to pay a 'top up fee' every month. but iam not moaning for once , after the nhs dumped my mom on socal services(nhs is told to, so ss can charge you), those people in the SS wanted her to start paying for her care and her residential home, oh with the top up fee, it comes to £465 a week , always ready for a with the gov and social services as they wanted to put a charge on her house, they even tried to blackmail my sister, into signing papers or they would start charging my mom straight away. but, there are ways around everythnig, well i found out, if a relative who is under 16 of my moms lives at her house permenanlty they cannot take the value of her home when they do a financial assement of her, and oh bit of luck, my wife, 6yr old daughter moved into my moms house 6 months before she had a breakdown (major reason her 3rd husband dying on her birthday ). i dont see why my mom should have to pay, shes been widowed 3 times, her husbands pensions should cover any fees, and they also take all her pension and benefits off her, shes left with about £18 a month . so the kind city of salford is paying for her. this scandal is worse than the visa one, where the husband or wife might have to sell thier family home to pay for the care for the other partner.. its shocking

just a warning to others if you have elderly parents, do something to prevent social services forcing your parents to sell thier house before its too late.

in my moms care home ,there are 3 kind pinoys care assistants

[joebloggs]

hey my previous post not showing up as the last post of this thread,,, is the SS behind this cover up..

[andypaul]

As someone who used to work at a Resdential Care Home as an administrator, I can sympathise with Kuya Allen. We had staff that had worked in a care home for 20, 30 years, plenty of experience, but were all forced to take NVQ2 or lose their jobs. For those who don't know what NVQ2 involves, its basic common sense stuff, like how to open doors and how to greet people. While I agree there is a need for a common standard of training, telling perfectly good and capable staff with many years experience they must be retrained is a farce. How about the whole of the British Government be retrained to take NVQ3 in how to run the country. I remember Care Standards Inspection days, utter nightmares. One year they'd say, for example (true story) you must only dispense medication in a cup, then the following year, they'd say, now you must NOT use a cup, but hand the medication over to the "service user". Then they wanted employee records kept in a certain way, then next year they would say, no, you must now do it this way, then they give you 14 days to comply, otherwise they will take "action" against you. Glad I'm out of it, retail seems a walk in the park in comparison.

Sounds a nightmare but all those goverment agencies have to keep changing the rules and procedures to keep themselves in jobs.