A recruitment crisis in the care sector partially caused by conditions for workers during covid is contributing to huge waiting lists, says a Thanet domiciliary care company.
Aspire Home Carers Thanet has been operating since July 2021 but says treatment of the care sector work force during covid has led to recruitment pressures which in turn has meant organisations like their own are currently unable to safely take on more clients despite growing demand unless they can bring in more staff.
Care supervisor Kiri Field said: “Recruitment in the care sector is in dire straits at the moment which could be attributed to how we were treated throughout covid. We were called ‘unskilled’ workers, organisations were under severe pressure, support and guidance was lacking, PPE was nowhere to be found, we were forced to have vaccinations and told we would no longer have jobs in our chosen field if we didn’t. Care workers felt undervalued and unappreciated but at Aspire Thanet this is not the case.
“Waiting lists for care in our community are huge but unfortunately, due to the recruitment crisis in the care sector, we cannot safely take on more clients no matter how much we wish we could care for more people.
“It is a difficult job and it does have unsociable hours but it’s unbelievably rewarding and it really is the best job to have.
“Many of our staff had poor experiences working in care and came to us with low confidence and felt they were considered ‘unskilled’. We disagree. Every care assistant is a skilled worker and doing the job really takes someone special.
“We treat our staff as they should be treated, like gold dust, we push them to be the best they can be in an environment they feel supported, encouraged and listened to.”
A survey carried out by the Homecare Association last August found a high level of concern among employers about inadequate workforce capacity to meet demand.
Some 843 homecare providers, large and small, state-funded and private-pay funded, across all regions of England responded to the survey and 95% said recruitment was harder than before the COVID-19 pandemic, with the majority (78%) saying that recruitment was “the hardest it has ever been”.
The survey found that 65% of homecare providers said more care workers were leaving their jobs than before the pandemic, including 29% who said that more care workers were leaving than ever before. Just 4% said that fewer care workers were leaving than before the pandemic.
A total of 89% of providers stated demand for their services had increased or significantly increased and almost half said the greatest challenge to recruitment was care workers’ pay and available terms and conditions of employment.
Like Aspire, some 38% of providers said they were unable to take on new work, with 57% saying they could take on some but not all new work.
Aspire Thanet is a domiciliary care company providing care to elderly and vulnerable clients in their own homes.
Kiri said: “We are a small and close-knit team working towards changing the way clients receive care and how staff are valued in their job roles. We believe a person-centred approach to care provides a culture where clients are truly active in their care and their wants and choices are listened to and respected and their independence is always promoted.
“We encourage our staff to ‘do more’ at every opportunity, for example we have assisted ‘collectors’ in clearing and maintaining a safe and clean environment, we’ve worked closely with agoraphobic clients to leave the home, we’ve donated clothing to clients that have been without and helped in small ways by a simple treat such as a chip shop take away.”
The Homecare Association is calling on government to take action, including to fund social care adequately so that homecare workers are paid fairly for the skilled roles they perform.
The Association says: “Failure to support older and disabled people with needs in their own homes risks avoidable deterioration in their health and well-being. This can result in crisis admissions to hospital or care homes, which are distressing for the individual concerned, costly for the state and may lead to further decline in function.
“Homecare providers are reporting that demand for homecare is rising in both the publicly and privately funded parts of the market.
“In addition to normal demographic pressures, this appears to be due to a combination of pent-up demand in the community following the pandemic; informal carers being unable to cope; hospitals seeking to deal with backlogs of elective cases; and public concerns about safety and accessibility of loved ones in care homes.”
Aspire Thanet is currently recruiting for caring staff to be a part of its team.
