i struggle to find a word that?s one higher than crisis — the llyn peninsula in north wales. it's eight o?clock in the morning, and home—carer amanda is beginning her working day. her first call is in pwllheli. good morning! have you got your bleeper on? my bleeper, why? what bleeping time do you call this? amanda's one of the uk?s 800,000 home—care workers, helping the elderly and disabled live independent lives at home. today, she's with former teacher william williams, it's just nice knowing that i could go out there and help other people and make sure that they're safe in their own home, and that they can actually stay home, and live at home in their own house, and don't have to go into care 51555: 3 a: £5,377 i'm 72, remember. i haven't got much time left! we have! many years to go again! the girls. i has??? absolutely terrific. they're caring, they're understanding and they're full of fun. she's paid £7.55 an hour, just above the national living wage, but she's on a zero hours contract, which means the hours she works are not guaranteed. i did look into buying a house four years ago, but because i didn't have a contract they wouldn't allow me to buy it's hard, it is hard. youseeyoulflie—ndsout it'sjust like "no, i can't come." i'll be sat in the car, waiting! ta—ra, will! it?‘s really a hard day's work really. with working out in the community. you could work from 7.30am straight through to 10pm but you do get breaks in that time. but i could see up to about 10, 11 people a day. ~ 77" w 7 , ,,, amanda is one of 200 staff at a family—run care company near bangor in gwynedd. hello. cymorth llaw. cymorth llaw, which means helping hand, is paid by local councils i'm just concerned about her safety and welfare, really. worked here for 14 years; 7” f the change in that time, the sense of recruiting — hard out there. have you got blank rotas i can have, please? menna's trying to juggle the staff rota. there are gaps that need covering. 552.2:1‘ £35?! 17:3 535 5 ‘zez that they require, wephysicailyte cannot fit them in on the carer's? ' rotas, u nfortu nately. and that's part of the job i do not like to do, and how does it make you feel in those situations? across the water in liverpool, and the pressures are the same. a shortage of care workers means it?s difficult to get people who've been in hospital back home. this way? yes. bad leg up? yes. bad legcu n, ! 86—year—old anastasia 0?leary was transferred to the granby 86—year—old anastasia 0'leary was transferred to the granby rehabilitation unit from the city?s royal liverpool university hospital last november. 25!‘ u!!!- l-z'ewg are 95:— flee;— for five days? dark night. i had ferrifiié'iféfé' meself up off the floor, but i couldn't. ijust had to lie there and i was only banging on the walls for five days but nobody heard me, but, on the fifth day, somebody must have just heard me, and the next thing i knew the fire brigade had to smash all me door down and get me out. i was in a pretty bad way, wasn't i, love? you was, and look at you now. i was, love, in a bad way. anastasia's been well enough to go home since january. she'll need four visits a day from carers. but finding that care package is proving difficult. there's currently about five people. anastasia is one, that are still with us now. is on average the amount of time people spend with us. some patients have been with us 12 and 14 weeks because all the therapy at the end of it. back at the home—care company in north wales, this evening at all? you can't? right. 0k. thank you. a member of staff is sick and there's no—one to visit an elderly client this evening. we've been trying to cover this shift since monday morning and we're having great difficulty due to lack of staff in area. time's running out to fill the shift