Care Show London review
most practical first step we can take towards securing a more sustainable workforce and sector – perhaps because it’s less politically thorny than issues surrounding pay.” As to what ‘professionalisation’ looks like, George said that, “at its core, professionalisation is about improving the status and profile of the work that care workers do. It’s about providing a framework within which learning and training and development opportunities are all recognised, encouraged, but also appropriately renumerated.” This was where, said George, “the idea of a professional register comes into play.” Unlike other UK nations, care workers in England are under no obligation to enter onto a professional register. George detailed some of the ways in which mandating registration in other parts of the UK had lead to improvements in the overall quality of care being provided while potentially reducing potential risks to those who draw on care services. Registration, said George, had been shown to significantly improve the perception of adult social care both as far as the general public and prospective employees are concerned, but also with the workforce itself holding themselves in a higher regard as a result. “What’s very clear,” said George, “is that all fingers point towards a desire to move us towards a more professional workforce and, ultimately, achieve a more sustainable sector as a whole. A voluntary care register is one that Care England stands wholeheartedly behind.”
Refurbishment vs new build Later that morning, I made my way to the Business Theatre for an interesting talk by Carless + Adams’ director and architect Melissa Magee and director and
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architectural technician George Morris on Refurbishment vs new build and preservation vs innovation.
Of particular interest was the distinction Melissa made between the approach taken to architecture in some other sectors – where the starting point for architects is often to simply pull an existing building down, build something bold, and soak up the accompanying kudos – and that taken in care, where an existing building might be perfectly fit for purpose, given the correct redesign and refurbishment. “Lots of existing buildings are still fit for purpose,” Melissa observed. “Just because they’re old doesn’t mean they don’t function. Just because they’re ageing doesn’t mean they can’t continue to be utilised. Some of the oldest [building] stock in the community is the most valued by the community.” It is important, therefore, that architects consider the resonance a building may have with the local community – particularly the older community – before making the decision to pull it down rather than refurbish it (although Melissa did concede that it was easier to incorporate regulatory requirements and changes – particularly those concerned with ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) on a new build). As with most things, there is a balance to be struck by architects and providers alike. A fancy new care home might not necessarily be the right solution!
Pride in care
The final talk of note that I attended was Confidence to care: lessons to learn about LGBTQ+ inclusion at the Care Providers’ Voice Masterclass stage, where Jim Glennon, policy director at Pride UK, and Beverley Smith, training director at Pride UK, gave an illuminating (and often emotional) insight
into the many issues that might affect the experience of an LGBTQ+ person moving into care.
Jim and Beverley explained how different the experience of being LGBTQ+ would have been (and still might be) for somebody now in their sixties, seventies, or eighties, compared with a young LGBTQ+ person of today. A key difference, when it comes to the issue of care, is that older LGBTQ+ people are far less likely to have had children than their peers, and that this, combined with familial estrangement, means that older LGBTQ+ people often lack any sort of family support from children or grandchildren – support that is generally taken for granted when it comes to non- LGBTQ+ people moving into care. By placing the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights in an historic context, drawing on their own experiences of institutionalised homophobia – referring to the effects of Margaret Thatcher’s pernicious Clause 28, for example – Jim and Beverley did a great job of explaining why LGBTQ+ of a certain age might be reluctant to engage with public services, for fear of encountering prejudice and abuse. Staff training was absolutely key, they stressed, and providers ought to invest in LGBTQ+ inclusion accreditation in order to make sure they provide truly inclusive care provision for the growing number of LGBTQ+ people coming into contact with care services. All in all, Care Show London was an
excellent event, with an impressive, varied range of speakers and exhibitors, and plenty to see and do. I very much enjoyed the show, and everybody I spoke to agreed that it had been a highly worthwhile two days. I look forward to both next year’s event and, of course, Care Show Birmingham in October.
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www.thecarehomeenvironment.com June 2024
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