Why NACAS was started – A story from our Founder

This is my journey to becoming a care worker and my inspiration for setting up the National Association of Care and Support Workers (NACAS), the  Professional Body for Care & Support Workers.

I am a qualified engineer and a former retail and third sector manager, and I also cared for my mum, who was living with Vascular Dementia. After being made redundant in my early fifties, I was unsure of my next steps. With encouragement from my wife, I found myself drawn to care work. I attended an interview with a local provider and became a support worker, unaware of the journey that lay ahead.

My induction lasted a week before I started at the home where I would be working. After meeting the team, I learned that although the home was meant for residents transitioning to independent living, many would never be able to live independently due to significant mental health and behavioural issues. This was the first of many instances where a care provider had been less than truthful during the interview.

The learning curve was steep and daunting. Nothing could prepare me for the realities of the work. I lost count of the times I  suffered physical backlash from residents. Despite my concerns, my manager simply told me to "get on with the job." When I spoke to colleagues, I was warned that asking too many questions would label me a troublemaker. It became clear that concerns were brushed aside as inconvenient, and staff were expected to just get on with things to avoid repercussions from management.

During an afternoon shift, a resident interrupted my supervision to ask a question. My senior flew into a rage and verbally abused the resident. Shocked, I knew I had to report what I witnessed. The resident returned to her room in distress, and my senior acknowledged his wrongdoing but blamed it on being "tired." I reported the incident to the manager, who assured me it would be investigated but offered no support. On my next shift, I was ostracised by colleagues, which made my position untenable.

Despite this experience, I found care work rewarding and decided to continue in the field. My next position was in a domiciliary care setting, where I was promised a supportive work environment. However, the reality was a constant demand for more hours, poor care provision, and staff feeling undervalued and pressured. I quickly grew to love the work, finding it a privilege to make even a small difference in someone’s life. Yet, I could not shake the feeling that care workers were mistreated and underappreciated.

An incident at the office with a colleague highlighted this mistreatment. And with any intervention I made being dismissed, I felt I could not stay with such an employer and left, experiencing similar conditions at other domiciliary care providers.

Determined to make a difference, I researched support for care workers and found nothing specific to our needs. I did however discover the Ontario Personal Support Workers Association (OPSWA) in Canada and realised a similar organisation was needed in the UK. After many transatlantic conversations with OPSWA’s founder, Miranda Ferrier, and discussions with the Professional Standards Authority for Social Care, I decided to establish a UK-based association.

In March 2016, with personal funding and after two years of preparation, reaching out to the established social care stakeholders to introduce my idea, my wife and I founded the UK Support Worker Association. Our website went live in May, and by June, we had our first subscribing member. In August, we became a strategic partner with Social Care Wales.

A decision was taken to rebrand UKSWA to become the National Association of Care & Support Workers (NACAS). We improved our online presence and gained recognition from Community Union and the Care Quality Commission, and members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Adult Social Care

Over the preceding years, NACAS has become a social care stakeholder, and trusted by its members. We have introduced the Voluntary Care Professional Register, something we were told could not be done. NACAS is also proud to represent the care workforce at the ongoing Covid-19 Public Inquiry as a core participant. In 2022, we employed our first full time employee.

In 2019, I had to step away from actively working as a care worker for health reasons. The silver lining, however, was that I was able to concentrate full time on developing NACAS further.

I am so proud of what we have achieved over the past 9 years, but there is so much still to do. I am so grateful to the people who have supported me on this journey, in particular our current CEO Liz Blacklock, and our amazing Board of volunteer Non-Executive Directors. 

I hope my story inspires you to join your association and help us elevate the profile and prestige of care workers. 

Paul Featherstone – Founder, NACAS