As Shirley filled the bedpan with warm, soapy water she wished she was someone else. She’d not been on holiday for as long as she could remember, and hoped it was possible that she and Grant could save enough to go to Blackpool with Kayla for a few nights in the summer. She used to visit the seaside resort as a child and had fond memories of the place.

Pushing the bedpan trolley along the corridor, Shirley made her way to the first resident on her list: Frank Moult. Pushing open the heavy fire-retardant door, she huffed as she entered. Frank lay on his bed, frail and motionless. She stopped for a moment and fixed her eyes on his chest. There was movement and she breathed a sigh of relief. Finding dead residents was part of the job.

‘Morning, Frank.’ She spoke loudly, waking him from his slumber with no gentleness. The old man opened his sunken blue eyes, and his mind tried to bring him into the present.

‘Time for your bath.’ She snapped on the latex gloves, not looking forward to the task ahead.

The old man didn’t make any attempt to move and looked like a small bird, sinking into the pillows under his head. Frank was confined to his bed. His legs had given up working properly some months before.

‘Up you sit.’ Shirley hooked her arm under his and hoisted him up the bed. The old man appeared surprised by the sudden, rough movement.

‘Come on. Take it off.’ She pointed a gloved finger at his crumpled, striped nightshirt. ‘I’ve got others to see to.’

With quivering hands he tried to undo the buttons, but his swollen arthritic fingers were not capable of the job.

Sighing impatiently, Shirley batted his hand out of the way and worked her way down the line of buttons before pulling the shirt off him. His body was sunken and she could see his ribs and sternum beneath a few wiry, white chest hairs.

Plunging the sponge into the now tepid water, she washed his back and upper body before roughly patting him dry with a towel. Next, she pulled back the bedding and removed his stained white underpants, making no attempt to hide the revulsion on her face. Embarrassed by the marks on his underwear, the old man hung his head in shame while she wiped around his genitals. This was Shirley’s least favourite part of the job and it was only the first one of the day. She had six more to get through before the morning was done.