"What have I done? They must not like me..."
Eight months ago, Shelagh McAdam, who lives in Walkden, was quite happy with life, even though she'd had a stroke that left her only with the use of one arm. She had three carers and would be out and about, shopping, going to church, seeing family...
"I used to enjoy life" she says "With the carers I was laughing, joking...now I'm crying, I'm not eating, I'm stressed, I don't want to know any more..."
Shelagh was allocated 65 hours of care a week by Salford City Council but then her social worker said she was proposing to slash the care package by half, to 32 hours, due to cuts and a new assessment. Within this care plan, there's only one hour a week allocated for shopping - and one hour forty five minutes for getting washed and dressed...which just cannot be done as it takes at least two hours or more.
The assessment, the Salford Star understands, provided no proper shower, just a part bed bath; no proper cooked meal just a microwave ready meal or sandwiches; and, despite Shelagh being doubly incontinent, only one bed sheet change a day. There was no ironing included, even though this is a medical requirement due to a skin condition; no trips outside of the house, even to church, and no feeding of Shelagh's beloved pets.
Even worse was that when the social worker spoke about slashing the care plan, the existing care workers overheard that their hours were possibly being cut and, within one week, all three had walked out...
"Some of them had been here for years, they were part of the family not just carers but because they need reliability of hours, they went and looked after other ladies" says Elaine Bates who is now the main carer "They said `We're sorry, we love you but we've got children and need money'... They've all gone."
That was eight months ago, and while Salford Council has kept the original hours of care while a new plan is supposedly being put in place, Shelagh and her family cannot employ anyone because they don't know the hours they can offer potential carers on a long term basis.
Instead, Elaine has been doing the caring for months on her own, seven days a week, until last week when an agency was brought in to help at weekends because she was burning herself out. The agency only does minimum care and believes there's there's not enough time in the care plan to do what is required.
So now Shelagh is left in a shocking situation where she and her family can't get carers because they can't guarantee them a job while there's a only a temporary care plan in place with proposals to slash the hours, and agencies state they can't achieve the care plan in the hours allocated.
"Shelagh used to have a laugh and a joke, and now all of it's gone" says Elaine "She's just in the bedroom all the time, in pain, constantly stressed out, crying because she doesn't know what's going to happen one day to the next. It's disgusting.
"She's totally reliant on care workers and carers, I'm here most of the time but I can't do 24:7" she adds "I was working many months on my own and I didn't get any support, but this is about Shelagh. What she's saying is that what they're offering her is not a life..."
Ironically, Salford Council's new mantra is `Get a life, not a service', stating that it wants to help as many people as possible to live independently, with `Just enough support'. But, judging by Shelagh's experience, it's not so much living as basic survival and existence, and nothing else. Now she's had enough...
In January, Shelagh is due to have an operation which the doctors have told her is quite dangerous with only a 50:50 chance of coming through. She's told them to go ahead...
"I'm dying here anyway" she says "They're not supporting me. I'm ill, I'm fed up, it's getting worse and worse and worse. I was laughing and joking and look at me now, I don't care any more.
"What have I done?" she asks "I don't why they're doing this, they must not like me. But I'm very poorly."
Ask Shelagh what her Christmas wish would be and she sighs "I want a life and not all this stress. I want carers to look after me. What have I got now? There's no point. I've got nothing..."
* Salford Star asked Salford Council to comment but, as usual, it hasn't responded
Shelagh's case was highlighted by her son at the recent SEARCH Community Committee meeting in Little Hulton. SEARCH seeks to be a forum for elderly, disabled and vulnerable people affected by Salford Council cuts (see previous Salford Star article - click here).
SEARCH has a new website with full contact details click here
* See also previous Salford Star article - Salford Council shocking statistics re vulnerable adults - click here
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