Our disruptor business really wants to help Care Providers find great Carers. So I asked 3 colleagues, stalwarts of social care, how they would improve recruitment and retention in Social Care. Amy Hunt, Emma and Jason Williams, have accumulated over 50 years of experience working in social care, and now work at Tinkers Hatch, a care home set in idyllic East Sussex surroundings.
All 3 agree that having excellent training, induction, trial shifts and ‘shadowing’ in place, creates a positive feeling of being properly invested in. This, combined with careful selection of staff and residents, means that compatibility and teamwork are made much easier.
Amy is passionate about team cohesion: “When staff feel supported in every facet of their working day, you are going to see much better staff morale and people willing to go the extra mile to help out with extra shifts or other everyday pressures care homes have.”
Emma has a great idea for other care providers to copy. “Paying £3 higher hourly enhancement rates to carers who work antisocial hours, like weekends and nights, makes carers more motivated to pick up extra shifts, avoiding expensive Agency rates and really helps carers’ finances.”
Her husband, Jason Williams, thinks “Overstretched places should have Jobseekers or volunteers, fully vetted of course, doing tasks such as laundry, ironing, preparing meals and cleaning in public areas. Jobseekers get good work experience on their CV and are another avenue for recruitment for social care. If done properly, it’s a win – win.”
Mia Simons is a Sociology student at the University of Kent. Her father has been advising DirectCareHub. She has experience of domiciliary carers shortening their allocated time to her dementia-suffering grandparents and the impersonal nature of this. “As a sociologist and granddaughter, I know patients deserve better quality of care. We need to reduce pressure on family members trying to compensate for the failures of the care industry. Having experienced, local carers would make a big difference.”
Find out how DirectCareHub can make a difference, ring us on: 020 7205 2553 or email info@directcarehub.co.uk
