Issue 89 05.01.22
The weekly online newsletter for the care sector
Government must listen to the forgotten THE Government must listen to the needs of older and vulnerable people who need care and start taking meaningful action in 2022, a campaigner has said. Mike Padgham says the New Year should be the moment the Government turns its attention to people who have been forgotten. “There are at least 1.5m people who aren’t getting the care they need as we go into a new year – that is our mothers and fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and friends,” said Mike, chair of The Independent Care Group. “And there are many, many thousands more who are only getting limited help. All of these vulnerable people will start 2022 with a poorer quality of life than they deserve. “For too long, theirs has been the quiet voice too easily ignored as the clamour from others was louder. “We have a severe shortage of carers to provide care – at least 120,000 vacancies and growing every day. “In 2022, the Government must start to listen to what older people and those with physical and mental disabilities need and start responding. “In 2021, it made a start by injecting some limited funding and introducing a cap on care costs. But these
were just tiny steps, just tinkering at the edges. The care of our most vulnerable requires much greater action – a root and branch overhaul of the social care system; the way it is funded and the way we recognise, respect and reward those amazing people providing care.” “The Covid-19 pandemic took the lives of many older and vulnerable people in 2020 and 2021 and it exposed the care system like never before,” Mike added. “The message for 2022 has to be that social care has had enough and that this is the year that the Government listens to those who need better care and to those who deliver care. “There is so much expertise available in the social care sector and so many people willing to work with the Government to provide solutions. However, the first part of any constructive working relationship is listening. The Government didn’t listen over the staffing crisis and has only now allowed us to recruit from overseas again – too late to help the appalling staff shortages we had warned about due to the impact of Omicron. “We have to work together to find a solution to a crisis that is only going to become more severe.”
Residents at a Hamilton care home have had a surprise visit from mobile petting zoo Bunny & Co. Staff at Avonbridge arranged for a menagerie of pets, with rabbits, mice, rats, guinea pigs, ducks and chickens to spend the afternoon at the home being petted, fed treats and generally doted upon. Home manager Emma Duffy said: “It was so nice to see the smiles on our residents faces when they found out that Bunny & Co was visiting. There is nothing better than enjoying a cuddle with a fluffy animal, especially when some of our residents have not been able to enjoy as much physical contact with their own family pets as they would have liked due to the Covid restrictions.”
Emma loses locks for good cause RESIDENTS of a Dorset care home didn’t need to be asked twice to help a big-hearted staff member lose her locks for a good cause. Several would-be stylists eagerly went hands-on to ensure Emma Foxley could donate nearly a third of her long hair to The Little Princess Trust. It was the first haircut in more than three years for Emma, a domestic assistant at Colten Care’s Whitecliffe House in Blandford. Companionship Team leader Debbie Easter said: “Emma is a much-loved member of the Colten family and we wanted to do everything we could to support her initiative in aid of the Trust. “While of course donating your own hair is
a serious move, it was a joy to see residents having fun as they got involved in helping Emma. “We were joking that her ‘hair-raising’ idea had given our residents an experience that was a ‘cut above’ the rest.” Under the expert guidance of the home’s regular hairdresser Shanna Corben, Emma’s 29.6-inch (74 cm) hair was first tied into ponytails. Then, one by one, residents took hold of a ponytail each and, scissors at the ready, cut off nine-inch-long (22.5 cm) bunches. Emma, who has worked for Colten Care for nearly seven years, is currently six months pregnant. Early on in her pregnancy she experienced the heartbreak of her mum passing away.
Happy New Year
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