Issue 85 01.12.21
The weekly online newsletter for the care sector
Carers’ fears over omicron Covid variant CARERS are calling for urgent Government support to protect the country’s oldest and most vulnerable as the new omicron variant of Covid-19 spreads. They urgently need more “boots on the ground” to cope with the new variant, winter pressures and a massive shortage of staff. Care provider organisation, The Independent Care Group said it was vital the Government stepped in to help care settings tackle the ongoing staffing crisis as the new strain and winter demands ramped up the pressure. ICG chair Mike Padgham said: “Care settings have not eased down for a moment during Covid-19, not for a second, but they are doing so without any great support from the Government. “Now, as we see the emergence of a new Covid-19 variant and winter starts to bite hard, we need some support, particularly with the ongoing staffing crisis. “We need more boots on the ground and we need them today. Before the pandemic there were more than 100,000 care staff vacancies. “The Government’s “no jab, no job” policy has added many more thousands to that shortage – maybe as many as the 60,000 the Government itself feared.
“As it has decided not to delay that in care settings – unlike in homecare and the NHS – we ask today, what are you going to do to help care and nursing homes get through winter, the new omicron Covid variant and the shortage of staff? “We were already in the eye of a perfect storm, with exhausted and burnt-out carers battling to provide the best care they can as winter sets in; the impact of “no jab, no job” and an inability to recruit from overseas because of Brexit. “Now we have the new omicron variant on top, which means we have to be ever more vigilant, we must have some support if we are going to get through the next few months.” Some £8bn has been cut from social care since 2010 and prepandemic some 1.5m people were not getting the care they needed. The ICG wants to see urgent support for care staff, starting with the payment of a staff bonus, to get more people into the sector to provide care. Further ahead, it wants to see root and branch reform of the care system to revolutionise the way we look after older and vulnerable people and reward those who provide the care. The ICG wants to see a root and branch overhaul of the way social care is planned and funded.
Music legend Paul Young welcomed residents from a Dorset care home for a town’s Christmas lights switch-on. Paul was the star guest as Sturminster Newton celebrated the start of advent with its annual community get-together. The fun took place around a main Christmas tree and decorations sponsored this year by Colten Care’s Outstanding-rated care home in the town, Newstone House. Two residents, Pat Steer and Gerald Blackburn, accompanied by the home’s Companionship Team leader Karlene Duffy, braved the cold to attend and were thrilled to be part of the event and to meet Paul. Together they joined a lantern parade in the town centre with local families and school children.
Specialist training zone launched BLUEBIRD Care Newmarket and Fenland and Bluebird Care Cambridge have created a specialist care zone capable of creating unique and applicable real-life care scenarios for their teams to be able to train effectively in realistic environments. As part of the launch, the homecare providers’ ‘Welcome to my World’ course enables care assistants, family members, customers and local healthcare professionals to experience and undertake the difficulties experienced
by customers on a daily basis. The GERT age simulation suit re-creates various impairments, allowing care assistants to understand each customer’s needs. Hannah Mayes, a care supervisor at Bluebird Care Newmarket, said: “The ‘Welcome to My World’ course gave a real feeling of what some of our customers have to deal with in their day-to-day life. “It gave a brilliant insight into how I can change my approach to care for the customers and have more
T H E 2 0 2 1 C A R I N G U K AWA R D S
empathy for them. “The GERT suit is so helpful for us to use and taught me a lot about the different conditions our customers live with.” Facilities have also been updated to include ‘real life’ living and bedroom areas to replicate the realistic experience of care assistants working in customers’ homes. Here they can practice having to operate specialist equipment under typical household restraints that are endured regularly on customer visits.
CARING UK AWA R D S 2 0 2 1
Thursday 2nd December 2021, THE ATHENA, LEICESTER
C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S T O A L L T H E F I N A L I S T S I N PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H
Call 01226 734605
or email tb@scriptmedia.co.uk for details For general enquiries call: 01226 734630
THANK YOU TO ALL THE SPONSORS
Care Home Division