Doncaster Council tells staff not to call themselves "frontline" workers over "fight" implications

The Sun reported that the pointers were part of a six-page 'social care language guide' issued to staff last May.

Authority chiefs warned the common term – as well as “duty”, “in the field”, “engagement”, “officers”, “army of carers”, and “heroes” – was part of a “language of battles”.

The newspaper said employees were told: “This implies opposing sides and defensive practice rather than trusted, equal relationships and connections, and honest conversations.”

Executives told carers tending to sick and elderly patients they should not say that clients in remote parts of city were “hard to reach” over fears the phrase assigns “blame”.

They wrote: “The language we use matters because it shows people how we think and feel, and shapes how other people think and feel too.

“We might use certain words because other people around us use them too, or because we have been taught to use them.

"If we don’t think about our language, we may use words that confuse, hurt, blame or exclude people.”

It also insisted: “This is not about policing language or banning words.”

The advice warned carers from using the term “getting care”, calling patients’ sickness “cases”, and saying severely ill OAPs were “challenging” to look after.

They were even told not to criticise problems at work, with the guide adding: “Avoid language that implies that social care is broken.”

“Using language like ‘broken’ and ‘crisis’ and talking about ‘fixing social care’ focuses on what’s wrong.

“It’s more helpful to focus on what’s working well, and how further investment or reform could build on this.”

And elderly patients cannot be listed as “vulnerable”, “non-compliant” or even called “clients” – with staff told they must instead brand them “people drawing on support”.

Free Speech Union leader Toby Young said: “Given that care workers are among the hardest working and most poorly paid people in Britain, it seems a little cruel to start policing their language and order them to drop any description of what they do that makes them sound remotely heroic. They are heroic and should be recognised as such.”

The Sun says the council was asked for comment.