Positive thinking

Rachel Lara Cohen, City, University of London A proposed scheme to tackle bed shortages in British hospitals has sparked a rash of criticism. This privately-run project, being piloted in Essex by the company CareRooms , places patients who are recovering from surgery away from hospital and into the homes of members of the public. CareRooms was quickly branded “Airbnb NHS” and lambasted by some in the media , medics and politicians from across the spectrum , for a lack of concern about patient safety. This is of crucial importance. What attracted less commentary, however, is that the scheme is also hugely exploitative, relying on the re-domestication of care to cheapen the labour of carers. On the CareRooms website care-providers are described as “hosts” who rent out a spare room or annexe. CareRooms explicitly differentiates “hosts” (defined by their provision of space), from carers regulated by the Care Quality Commission who will be on call to provide care in r...