Santa Cruz Home Help Staff Expose Service Misuse, Poor Conditions

Posters have appeared across the capital, anonymously highlighting the working conditions of nearly 300 female staff in the Home Help Service (SAD) run by Santa Cruz City Council.

These posters, with the words "the misuse of the Home Help Service is causing chaos" in red, explain what these assistants do. They are described as socio-health care workers. Their job is to help dependent people stay out of care homes, assist with daily tasks, provide companionship to prevent loneliness, encourage independence, and prevent social exclusion. They also help with personal hygiene, whether in bed or for those with limited movement, and assist with shopping, cooking, and managing medication, among other duties.

However, the posters stress that these workers are "not cleaners or domestic employees." Instead, they are trained technicians in home dependency care. They clarify that these staff "do not look after people living with the users and only cook for the users." They "do not do general cleaning, but rather maintain the dependent person's immediate environment." They also "do not reduce the family's responsibility, but rather help ease the burden of care." The posters, which also refer to information published in DIARIO DE AVISOS, warn that "many users are using this service for cleaning their homes, taking advantage of the time allocated for personal hygiene and care solely for cleaning."

The campaign aims to make people aware of "the abuse that many individuals inflict on a public service and on the assistants themselves." This is blamed on "the neglect and lack of control by the Department of Social Policies." The posters conclude by demanding that "given the harsh and sad reality of a social service, measures must be taken to make it fair for those who need it."

This campaign follows a recent announcement from the SAD's workers' council, which declared a dispute over the "unsustainable" state of the service. They blame "dereliction of duties, lack of control, and poor management by the City Council." As a result, they are considering protests or legal action to demand "care for dependent individuals, who are hostages of institutional inaction."