Issue 140 22.03.23
The weekly online newsletter for the care sector
Owner urges social care to be prioritised THE owner of Home Instead Wandsworth, Lambeth and Dulwich has called for the government to prioritise recruitment in social care when he met with the Minister of State for Employment Guy Opperman at Stockwell Job Centre. Tony O’Flaherty is keen to attract more people into the care sector, having run a Home Instead franchise for 13 years. In his meeting with Guy he stressed the need to professionalise working in care and highlighted the career route that it offers. Tony urged him to ensure that Job Centre staff are well informed on the benefits of working in care, such as the training and career prospects, so that they can actively and positively promote care roles to job candidates. Recruiting people with or without sector experience into care roles, Tony has seen people undergo the Care Career Pathway offered by Home Instead and build themselves a successful career. This pathway sees care professionals progress from gaining the fundamental skills to perform well in a care role, to specialising in areas of care such as dementia and Parkinson’s, to gaining more experience and qualifications beyond that.
Tony said: “It was a pleasure to meet with Guy, and I’d like to thank Stockwell Job Centre for inviting me along. “There’s a lot that needs to be done to attract more people into the care sector, so I’m glad that it’s getting the attention it deserves from a government minister. “Too often people see care as a sector that doesn’t offer prospects. “The truth is that working at Home Instead means having a clear route ahead where we train you to perform well in your role and progress. “I’m confident that we can look forward to a future where the government has a firmer grip on social care and the sector attracts more jobhunters thanks to changes led by government ministers like Guy.” Home Instead Wandsworth, Lambeth and Dulwich provides home care to older adults who want to continue living in familiar surroundings at home. Support includes companionship, home help, live-in care and personal care, such as assistance with dressing and washing. Care visits are a minimum of an hour and delivered by care professionals who are matched based on personality traits and shared interests.
Belong Newcastle-under-Lyme care village in Staffordshire created their own Mr Men characters to help raise money for Comic Relief. Customers at the dementia specialist designed their own ‘Belong Men’ characters to display in the Belong Heritage Gallery for fellow customers and visitors to view. To mark the special occasion residents and colleagues sold T-shirts, mugs, stickers and keyrings, all featuring the design, in the bistro, with members of the public popping in to make their donations.
RAF crew help with spring clean CREW from RAF High Wycombe have helped staff give a care home’s outdoor areas a spring clean. Eight service personnel donned gardening gloves and brought brooms, rakes and trowels when they visited Royal Star & Garter in High Wycombe to help staff clean terrace areas and tidy outdoor spaces. The volunteers spent three hours cleaning outside the home’s activities room and the nursing and dementia care areas. They cut back foliage and cleaned out raised garden beds, pulling out weeds which had sprung up over the winter, and turned over the soil. The RAF crew also brought with them cakes to share with staff and residents. The cold weather prevented veterans from venturing outside to help, but they were able to watch through the windows, while
some green-fingered residents passed on advice. Lauren Baker, senior community fundraiser at Royal Star & Garter, who was also a volunteer on the day, said: “We are incredibly grateful that the crew from RAF High Wycombe took the time out of their day to join us, equipped with gardening tools and cake, to help with our spring clean. “We were able to cut back and clear away vegetation that had grown over winter, and the veterans are now looking forward to making good use of the outdoor spaces in spring and summer. Residents had a good time chatting to us, and gave lots of useful tips and advice as we went about our work.” RAF High Wycombe has chosen Royal Star & Garter to be one of its official charities of the year.
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