A Time to Care offers a hard-hitting insider’s account of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in residential care homes around Britain.

A deeply personal story with much wider resonance, it lays bare what you don’t know and what care home operators don’t want you to know. Describing the toll inflicted by the pandemic on residents and staff alike, it also recalls the courage and generosity inspired by extraordinary circumstances.

A Time to Care is a challenge, a call to action, and a plea for you not to look away. It sheds light on the day-to-day experiences of care home residents, calling for greater recognition of care staff and the work they do. Above all, it asks you to care.

Eleanor Bloomfield holds a doctorate in medieval drama and has a background in research and teaching. Originally from New Zealand, she relocated to the UK at the beginning of 2020, becoming caught up in the COVID-19 pandemic. She spent two years working in residential dementia care, an experience documented in her non-fiction work A Time to Care. She now works in the University of Leicester Archives and Special Collections.