Monday 20 June 2011

Unsung Heroes


Without any doubt, these are the carers in this world,  whether  in the home or by volunteers,  or care workers from agencies or social services departments.  All have difficult and at times very unpleasant jobs.   The family carers have the additional anguish of watching the sometimes unbearable suffering of their loved ones.
Having for a large part of my life been involved with Multiple Sclerosis sufferers and Downs Syndrome children,  I am very well aware of their needs and the help they’ve been given by family, friends and professional  carers.      At one point in my life I was myself  the recipient of much needed help in the home organised by the N.H.S., for which I am eternally grateful,  the lovely  girls they sent having got me back on my feet and restored to health.     I would like to think that their pay matched their commitment for the very difficult jobs with which they’re faced.   I am afraid it doesn’t.
We are now living longer, but sadly unhealthier lives.   In the future, much more care in the home will be needed from these dedicated people and I only hope there will be enough to go round.   I  doubt it.
The Honours System is of course a mockery in my eyes and those of a considerable proportion of our population.     Thinking people will know that the true honours should go to these unsung heroes without whom we would be in a parlous state.


2 comments:

  1. Totally agree Betty - and don't get me on the 'honours system' - it's a real con so far as I am concerned.Your points about real heroes reflect many of my own thoughts - expressed by coincidence in my last blog.
    But back to the honours system! Couldn't resist it. A few years ago the man in charge of the car park at Trent University was awarded an OBE or MBE.Now perhaps he was very deserving - I don't know. But what stuck in my craw was that the award was granted 'for services to education' - it made me feel really good having spent 40 years working in a classroom that my 'services to education' were in the same category as the car park attendant. Snobbish - yes - but still hurtful.

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  2. Hello - being from the other side of the pond I have no idea what the "honours system" is. It sounds awful.

    My husbands great aunt was very ill for a long time and she decided at one point that she did not want any more doctors or tests or treatments. So we called Hospice care. What I loved most about these people that came into her home and treated her with such respect until the day she died, was that they also cared for my husband. His mother had died when he was young and this woman had been his caregiver as a child. The caregivers from hospice helped him prepare for her death and helped him deal with it afterwards! They are the best kinds of people and deserve more respect (and pay) then they get.

    Well said Betty!
    crazyworld-leann.blogspot.com/

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