‘Let’s have a look then.’ I thought with some trepidation as I clicked on the play icon.

Last week, the BBC launched Caring Matters : ‘A week-long spotlight on caring across the BBC, bringing together programming to reflect the realities of caring in the UK today‘ according to the press release. I never typically watch much caring content given I am a carer and I’m very well aware of the awful reality of it…plus I’m busy…caring and working.

Kate Phillips, the BBC’s Chief Content Officer, said of the Caring Matters week: “Carers provide such a vital contribution to society and that’s why we are dedicating a week of special programming on the BBC to help support the caring community. With millions of people across the UK providing unpaid care, we will equip audiences with valuable knowledge and tools to prepare them while encouraging a greater understanding of what’s involved which is more important than ever.”

I thought I’d give this a chance by watching the BBC’s main documentary contribution called ‘Natalie Cassidy: Caring Together‘. A series presented by the actress who, ‘inspired by caring for her dad, embarks on a new adventure as a student carer learning from the ground up, she faces the realities, the heartbreak and the joy of caring.‘

The communications director in me immediately bristled at this mixed messaging. Which type of carers are we talking about? The documentary seemed to be about paid carers- they’re very valuable and we need more of them but they’re doing a job for which they get paid. I’m of the unpaid variety and I definitely don’t experience much joy from caring; or from anything else anymore.

‘Shut up and watch it, Laura.’

The documentary series follows Natalie training to be a paid care worker. She was inspired to do this by being an unpaid carer to her dad, we later learn she hired a care worker to enable her to continue working.

The tone of the series is generally positive, light, and glossy. So glossy, you walk away from it thinking the system is great and works perfectly. The program mixes paid and unpaid carers roles interchangeably and is full of the usual tropes of either type of carers being ‘angels’ and ‘brave’, not forgetting the blood-boiling advice for carers also having to look after themselves.

Some of the hardships of (unpaid) caring are mentioned but only in passing as if nothing can be done about them before moving swiftly on.

To answer my own question – did doing this week matter? Yes – it is a net positive that caring in any form is being talked about. However, it doesn’t nearly go far enough. I understand the need for the subject matter to be accessible, but this paints a picture that is so far from the reality on the ground. I would have liked more of the hardships to be looked at, they had plenty of opportunities to do that – from the fact that the waiting list for an autism diagnosis in Hertfordshire is 2 to 3 years or that 1 in 5 children and young people in the UK have caring responsibilities. None of this is acceptable, why is that? What can be done to change? At one point, Natalie says: ‘this is an example of the millions of invisible unpaid carers that you don’t really think about…’ well this film was your chance, love!

A better question is: what’s the aim of this documentary?

Apart from a very nice PR rebrand for Natalie (I’m sure she’s very well intentioned but I’m in industry and I know how these things work). What do we want the general public (the not-yet-carers) to take away from it? With this series, the reaction will be the usual: ‘Gosh what strong brave heroes -I couldn’t do it!‘ and they forget about it, oblivious to the fact they’re very likely to join our heroic ranks.

This is lazy, from producers who probably haven’t yet had to care. It also does a disservice to everyone who will need care and/or become unpaid carers – which is the majority of the UK. All the initiatives mentioned are laudable but they don’t reflect the reality of when caring will hit you. You *will* wait months for a carers assessment (if you ever discover one exists, or even realise you’re a carer) and you *won’t* get the help you need – at best it will be inadequate. You will very likely have to reduce your work hours or quit your job altogether. That’s the reality and that’s the scandal to exploit here, producers – make a film that will outrage the general public enough to email their MPs about, to get in touch with charities and grassroots campaigns, ask their employers about what provisions (if any) they have for their employees who are carers. Enrage the ‘keep calm and carry on’ British public enough to act.

A suggestion for Kate Phillips, if I may, now we’ve established how wonderful carers (paid and unpaid) are – let’s explore what needs to be done to meaningfully help them. That means policy work, legislation, better funding for social care services, better pay and conditions for medical professionals, a push for flexible work to keep carers in work etc. not sexy, but necessary. Next time, why don’t we have celebrities spend a week with unpaid carers, experience the real grind of it and the lack of help? That would be authentic, make for good TV and ‘equip audiences with valuable knowledge‘.

There was some other programming that featured real life unpaid carers such as Nicky Campbell’s show on BBC Radio 5 live. I’ll leave you with Chrissy’s words, an unpaid carer to her daughter: ‘ I resent the notion that I should be glad and grateful and get on with it… is this all my life is now going to be?‘ For millions of Brits, if we continue to do nothing, I fear the answer is sadly yes.

*Just a caveat that I haven’t watched/listened to all the programming because I have two more-than-full-time jobs. You can find the full list of shows here.