read ppy Chri stm as a H to all o ur e rs and a
d v e r ti s e r s
no.266 • £4.75 incorporating
December 2018
The Number One magazine for the care sector
Minister of Care visits care home in Solihull
Providers are priced out of jobs market A SOCIAL care leader is calling for urgent reform to enable care homes and home care companies in Wales to compete with the NHS when it comes to recruiting staff. Mario Kreft MBE, chair of Care Forum Wales, revealed that the NHS was paying staff up to £1.50 an hour more for doing the equivalent jobs. He is calling on the Welsh Government to introduce a system similar to the one in Scotland where providers who pay more to their staff are paid more in fees. Mario was speaking in response to a new report, The cost of caring for an ageing population, by the Finance Committee of the National Assembly for Wales. He welcome the report as an important contribution to the debate about how social care is going to be funded. It again raised the prospect of introducing a new levy to pay for social care at a time when the number of people over 85 is forecast to double in the next two decades. According to Mario, fundamental changes to the “chronically flawed system” were needed before any levy was introduced otherwise it would be like throwing good money after bad. Because of the way funding was calculated for publicly-funded individuals, care providers could usually only afford
to pay around £8 an hour to care practitioners while the NHS in some parts of Wales were paying £9.50 an hour, plus enhancements. At the same time supermarkets were also paying more so care staff were being attracted away by bigger pay packets. Mario said: “We did give evidence to this committee and their report is important and very timely, not least because of the Welsh Government’s decision to recognise social care as one of the four foundation sectors in the economy. “We agree with many of the conclusions and recommendations, particularly about valuing the wonderful people who work in social care and recognising the real cost of providing services when they are being commissioned. “Unfortunately, the workforce is not valued economically by our public bodies in Wales. Both health boards and local authorities who commission need to recognise the real costs borne by independent care providers. “When it comes to recruiting their own staff they obviously pay significantly more which is totally unfair. People doing a vital job in social care are not recognised in the same way and rewarded financially in the same way as those in the NHS.”
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Home Instead Senior Care has launched a series of new recipes with top chef Rosemary Shrager (pictured above) as part of an initiative to get older people eating again. The campaign has been created in response to new research that says nearly one in 10 (nine per cent) of older people admit they rarely get to eat their favourite nostalgic dishes. Full story on page 4.
MINISTER of State for Care Caroline Dinenage MP visited The Royal Star & Garter Homes in Solihull to see the specialist care it provides. She was given a tour by The Royal Star & Garter Homes’ chief executive Andy Cole and home manager Cheryl Harbourne. The charity provides 24-hour care for veterans living with disability or dementia and recently increased the number of people it helps by launching a day care service. During her visit, the Minister was shown around Roundel House, which provides round-the-clock specialist care for people living with dementia, and the activities room, where she saw the day care service in action. She also viewed residents painting poppies on 100 pebbles as the home prepared for Remembrance Day and the Armistice centenary. The tour finished with a visit to the physiotherapy department, before Caroline chatted to several residents. The Royal Star & Garter Homes’ chief executive Andy Cole said: “We’re always looking at how we can adapt our care to meet the needs of veterans living with disabilities, so we’re really pleased the Minister was able to see our new day care service in full swing. “This is allowing us to help even more veterans.”