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CARE HOME


ENVIRONMENT Editor


Matt Seex mattseex@stepcomms.com


Business Manager Mike Gammon


mikegammon@stepcomms.com Journal Administration


Katy Cockle katycockle@stepcomms.com


Design


Steven Dillon Publisher


Geoff King geoffking@stepcomms.com Publishing Director


Trevor Moon trevormoon@stepcomms.com


THE CARE HOME ENVIRONMENT is published monthly by Step Communications Ltd, Step House, North Farm Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3DR, UK.


Tel: +44 (0)1892 779999 Email: info@thecarehomeenvironment.com Web: www.thecarehomeenvironment.com


Matt Seex Editor mattseex@stepcomms.com


Who cares?


Welcome to the February issue of The Care Home Environment.


At the last count, there were some


165,000 vacancies across the social care sector, with factors as diverse as Brexit, low pay, and a rapidly ageing population taking their toll. Sadly, a career in care is not the first


thing young people think of as they look to enter the world of work - perhaps understandably, given the low pay and the challenges involved in caring for people with often very complex needs - but a new initiative is looking to change things.


ISSN NO. 2398-3280


The Publisher is unable to take any responsibility for views expressed by contributors. Editorial views are not necessarily shared by the journal. Readers are expressly advised that while the contents of this publication are believed to be accurate, correct and complete, no reliance should be placed upon its contents as being applicable to any particular circumstances.


This publication is copyright under the Berne Convention and the International Copyright Convention. All rights reserved, apart from any copying under the UK Copyright Act 1956, part 1, section 7. Multiple copies of the contents of the publication without permission is always illegal.


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In March, the independent, charitable Hallmark Foundation and employability and life skills charity Working Options in Education are joining forces to host a free national care conference for school pupils aged between 14-19 years of age. The conference - dubbed Who Cares? - aims to encourage the next generation of health professionals into the care sector by increasing awareness and sharing the importance of working in care settings. It will take place on 7 March at the Royal College of GPs in London, where some 300 delegates will be joined by at least 30 schools via livestream. Speakers are set to include the chief nurse for adult social care, Deborah Sturdy, Care England and Hallmark Care Homes chair Avnish Goyal CBE, and inspirational speaker Jermaine Harris.


According to Hallmark Foundation


trustee Anita Goyal MBE: “We want to raise awareness of the variety of roles for young people to build a career in the care sector. Over 1.5 million people currently work in some of the most important and valuable jobs in our society. With our


ageing population, there will be a growing demand for the next generation of the care workforce. Everyone can care!” Such initiatives are, of course, laudable, but the challenge facing social care recruitment remains acute. According to The King’s Fund, people under the age of 25 make up only 10.6 per cent of the care workforce in England, and numbers are trending ever-downwards. In 2013/14 there were 111,500 younger care workers in adult social care, but by 2019/20 there were fewer than 100,000.


Compounding this lack of new blood, according to the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England, Skills for Care, is the fact that the starter rate in social care has fallen from 37.3 per cent in 2018/19 to 30.8 per cent in 2021/22, while the staff turnover rate remains stuck at around the thirty per cent mark. In other words: ‘ … around the same proportion of people are leaving their roles, but there are fewer people replacing them’.


The question, then, is whether today’s


younger generation can ever be attracted to what is a stubbornly low-paying, and often stressful (albeit rewarding) career in care in anything like the numbers required to meet an unprecedented demand. Frankly, it seems unlikely. I hope you enjoy the issue.


Follow us on twitter @tchemagazine February 2023 www.thecarehomeenvironment.com Follow our page on Linkedin 5


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