麻豆约拍

There's a silent army of workers who look after Britain's old and needy in their own homes. It's a rapidly growing group...but we rarely hear their stories.

In the first of two programmes, Sangita Myska follows the day-to-day lives of three care workers. We talk to the carers who do their jobs well and hear - in chilling detail - about the ones who do it badly.

"There was snow outside, the roads were bad. When I walked into the house I was struck by how cold it was. And what I saw next will stay with me forever. George was sitting, his skin grey from the cold. He was wet - a doubly incontinent man - and they hadn't put a pad on him. The blinds were shut, the lights were off, the telly was off, just waiting for someone to help".

It's a frustrating, revolving-door service where some of the visits last as little as 15 minutes. We hear of vulnerable people having up to 24 different carers a week and stories of basic care - and caring - being overlooked.

Jane - not her real name - is fairly new to care. We go with her on one of her visits - a lunchtime call to an elderly woman. The woman wanted a sandwich - but her bread was green with mould - despite the fact that she'd had a care worker in to make her breakfast and had three carers the previous day. Jane complains to her bosses - but she's not hopeful anything will change. She says her complaints so far have fallen on deaf ears.

The care workers are mostly on the minimum wage - or below. Staff turnover is twice that of any other industry. It's a disturbing picture of the state of domiciliary care.

Producer: Adele Armstrong.