Articles

New Initiatives in Shropshire Set in Motion to Attract Workers in Home Care Sector

30/06/2015

Shropshire is getting an extra hand in encouraging more individuals in its area to work in the home care industry.

Shropshire Partners in Care (SPIC), through its Care Workforce Development Partnership program, started campaigns to convince people working as a home care worker is a viable long-term work option.

SPIC is a non-profit organisation representing more than 200 independent nursing, residential and domiciliary care companies in Shropshire.

Among SPIC’s initiatives is its Social Care Sector Based Work Academy, a pilot program being operated with Job Centre Plus and Telford College of Arts and Technology. The program’s goal is to train individuals interested in taking up roles as home care workers. As of this writing, SPIC said 14 individuals have graduated from the program and the organisation is planning to extend the program to the Shropshire Council area.

Care Workforce Development Partnership will also organise jobs fairs and launch a website dedicated for hiring home care staff.

Shropshire, just like other counties in the UK, are in dire need of more home care workers due to unprecedented rise in UK’s elderly population. SPIC recently conducted a poll in the area involving 20 care establishments in Shropshire which revealed that there are about 246 vacant home care positions.

A recent report from UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) found that about 0.5 million more care workers will be needed by 2022, a 27% growth that is the largest in any industry in the country.

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, however, claimed in a report that care companies are having a hard time recruiting staff mainly as a result of social care cuts that have been imposed by the government.

Other factors discouraging people from working as care workers include negative publicity on care work, including stories on below minimum wage pay and the prevalence of zero-hours contracts in the industry.

Debbie Price, Chief Officer of SPIC, said that choosing a career in home care is a viable option for many individuals. 

Price added:

“For many people it can be a flexible way of working to fit with family life and other responsibilities. Working in home care can be a rewarding, long-term career that brings the great satisfaction of supporting people to live independently. It is a role that is suited to people of any age.”