08/09/2026
🩷 Carers, I see you and I understand. 🩷
Picture this…
You’re new to working in a care home. You walk into a building where friendship groups have already formed and everyone seems to know one another. Suddenly, you’re the little fish in a very big pond.
You complete one or two shadow shifts, watching people you naturally assume are experienced and properly trained. Before you know it, you’re included in the staffing numbers and expected to get on with the job.
Then you witness something that doesn’t feel right.
Do you report it?
Do you challenge it there and then?
Or do you keep quiet because you’re frightened of the backlash?
It’s easy to say, “I would speak up,” but the reality can be very different.
You might be young, shy, anxious or completely new to care. The person involved may be a popular senior carer who has worked there for years. If you report it, an investigation begins and it can quickly become obvious who raised the concern.
Suddenly, you’re being ignored.
Your name is being passed around through Chinese whispers.
You’re walking into every shift knowing that certain people don’t want you there because you “got their friend into trouble.”
If you challenge the person directly, you may be met with, “I’ve worked here longer than you. I know what I’m doing.”
Whatever way you handle it, you can find yourself working in a hostile environment simply because you tried to do the right thing.
When I worked in care homes, younger carers would sometimes tell me about things they had witnessed but were too frightened to report. They didn’t want confrontation, workplace drama or trouble outside of work.
It isn’t only younger carers either. It can be anyone who is shy, anxious or worried about being pushed out.
Eventually, some good carers can’t take it anymore and leave. Others learn to keep their heads down and mouths shut because they need their wages to pay their bills.
Before long, the culture continues and another good carer has been silenced.
I’ve never been afraid of being disliked for speaking up. I live in the middle of nowhere with my husband, children and animals, perfectly happy being selectively social! 😆
I went to work to care for vulnerable people, not to win a popularity contest.
I would rather be disliked for protecting someone than liked for staying silent when something isn’t right.
However, I completely understand why others can feel unable to speak up. Nobody should be bullied, isolated or made to dread going to work because they raised a genuine concern about someone’s care.
This is not about attacking every care home or every person working within one. I have worked alongside some absolutely incredible carers who genuinely care with their whole hearts.
The problem is that good carers are not always being supported, listened to or given the time and resources to provide the standard of care they desperately want to give.
Something needs to change within the care sector and I’m going to keep shouting from the rooftops.
If you are a carer who has spoken up when something wasn’t right, thank you. 🩷
If you are a carer who wanted to speak up but felt frightened of the consequences, I see you and I understand.
This is one of the reasons I’m so determined to have my own care home one day. I don’t only want to protect and care for the vulnerable and elderly. I want to protect and value the carers looking after them too.
Because supported carers provide better care.
Carers deserve to be listened to, respected and paid properly for the incredibly important work they do.
Please like, comment and share this post. Every interaction helps it reach another person and makes more people aware of what can happen behind closed doors.
If those with the power to change things won’t listen, then we need to keep making our voices louder. 🩷
Lauren
LT Caring Services - Private Carer
📞 07503 086966
📧 [email protected]
📍 Aberdeenshire
