FEATURE
Home and Away Heritage Healthcare Director Michelle Fenwick QFP provides an overview of the
significant changes experienced by the care industry in the past year and considers the changes that may be still to come in the next 12 months.
As a homecare provider, we have witnessed significant changes recently in our workload, the work that is required from us on a day-to-day basis and in the expectations of our clients.
Over the past 12 months, there have been new data protection laws introduced that we and our franchise offices must abide by in order to ensure that we are fully protecting the data of all Heritage Healthcare clients. It has been necessary for us to prepare and implement bespoke data protection policies and procedures. With these policies and procedures in place, it is then a further requirement to regularly undertake data protection audits and, whilst this work has been challenging, we are pleased that this new system is working well and that our clients data is now stored more securely than ever.
For the team of directors at Heritage Healthcare, it has always been vital to ensure that every one of our clients is cared for how we would care for a member of our own family- with care, compassion and professionalism. To enable our staff to meet this expectation, every individual delivering care undergoes induction training, inclusive of the Care Certificate which
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ensures that training is thorough and that best practice is apparent in every Heritage Healthcare location.
We have witnessed a significant increase in the hours of care we provide across the country and a diversification in the services required by those we care for. Primarily, this is due to the ageing population we have in the UK. We expect the hours of care we provide to continue to rise as the growth in our elderly population looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.
The future of our industry is largely unpredictable, however I think it is inevitable that we will continue to experience change.
The calling of the snap election is likely to provide great uncertainty as to the direction of social care for the next five years; especially the period over which we leave the EU. Whilst there has been an injection of cash into the care sector, it acts only as a short-term fix. A much longer-term solution needs to be considered, decided upon and initiated quickly so that we, as a nation, can continue to deliver care at home and, more importantly, can make our way out of the current care crisis that we, as a home care provider, face every day.
I feel that the care delivered to individuals outside of the hospital environment is becoming more and more complex. More is expected and required from care assistants across the UK to support the NHS, with the aim of enabling those who can to remain at home. We have found that the families and loved ones of those receiving care at home expect just as much from care providers as they would in a hospital.
Whilst more is expected from all care providers, we as business owners are being squeezed by the constraints of the local authority budgets and the inflation of our employees’ wages. We would love to be able to pay our care assistants more and further recognise their efforts, but we remain in a position where this remains unviable.
As a service, care is constantly evolving; driven by a combined heightened consumer expectation, a significant increase in demand and changing technology. Hopefully, a long-term solution will be provided by government, to ensure that generations to come will benefit from continually improving standards of care, which are not only affordable but truly sustainable.
www.heritagehealthcare.co.uk www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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