Vacancies at homecare and private nursing are appearing to be on the rise. Those who offer bespoke care packages and those who work in mental health are leaving their jobs due to the stress that they are under. Social workers are leaving their positions due to the pressure that they are under. The amount of posts that are filled has decreased by an average of around 4.6% and this was between March 2021 and March 2022. Skills for Care have stated that this decrease is somewhat unusual and that the vacancy rate has risen which points to retention difficulties. People do not believe that this is due to an increase in demand and that employers are not able to find the staff that they need to provide a good service. If you look at the mandatory vaccination policy that took place last year then you will soon see that this has helped to contribute to the rise in vacancies.
Thousands of care workers have had to leave their job since the mandate came in and this is putting even more strain on the industry as we know it. People know the issues that they are facing right now but it is very difficult to support employees when it comes to tackling them. It is just not possible to try and stop the vacancies from rising but at the end of the day, it is only natural that people want to do what they can to try and counter the issue by taking the right steps to ease the situation.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like work can be done fast enough to stop the rising vacancies but at the same time, it looks like something has to be done to stop the care sector from plunging into ruin.
Benefits, including PIP payments and pensions have risen by around 3% in April but many people have warned that this is not going to give people any protection from hardship. Benefits are not coinciding with the rising cost of inflation and if you look at growing energy bills you will soon see that this is contributing to the crisis of living. At the end of the day, it is vital that the cost of living ends up matching the benefits and right now it doesn’t look like this is the case. The government have to do what they can to make sure that the benefits are being given out fairly and they also need to do what they can to make a positive change.
The cost of living is said to rise even more this year and it is going to be difficult to comprehend the kind of logic behind this choice. There has to be more done to try and protect the value of benefits and right now it would seem that the government have done nothing to help those who need it.
Those who work in homecare and in private nursing are feeling the brunt of this even more. Bespoke care packages mean that people have to travel for their jobs ad it also means that social workers are getting the biggest hit when it comes to rising fuel costs. This is having a huge impact on mental health and it would seem that this is not going to change any time soon.
Only time will tell what the future holds but right now it would seem that more needs to be done to try and help those who truly need it. If not then this could mean bad things for the future and it could even mean that the pressure on the benefits system is increased as people leave their jobs.
If you work in the sector of homecare, private nursing or even in mental health then you will know how much the rising fuel prices are impacting the work of what people do. Social workers and those who offer bespoke care packages inside people’s homes are finding that they now have to pay out way more money just to get their job done. Studies have found that 95% of home care employees have said that their team have anxiety about the cost of living and a fifth of them have said that they are considering leaving, as they are not able to fuel their cars. Polls have shown that this equates to around 10% of the workforce and they drive up to four million miles every day. There are an estimated 1.5 million care visits a day and 2.9 miles for every visit. One boss has come out to say that they have experienced a mixture of people who are looking for an increase in pay as well as an increase in those who are looking to leave. Fuel and food are major costs to most people right now and a lot of them are living month to month as it is.
Some care workers are not going to certain areas with their car because they do not feel as though it is viable for them to carry on working as they are. A lot of care home workers cannot afford to take out a vehicle that is fuel-efficient either and this means that if they work in London or anywhere else similar, they have to pay a huge cost for the privilege of driving into the area. This is not good, to say the least and if something is not done then it could mean the downfall of the industry in general.
Abicare is working hard to try and give free training and 100 jobs to those who are coming from Ukraine. They are also doing this for those who want to live and work within the UK. If you are seeking mental health jobs, or work in private nursing and homecare then this is very good as the NHS is short-staffed and it means that you can get the training you need. Abicare work to offer bespoke care packages as well as support to social workers, which is very good if you want to work in this kind of sector. The jobs are going to be offered in Salisbury, Swindon, Bradford-on-Avon, Basingstoke and even Wales. Live-in care jobs are also available across the entire country.
Refugees do not need to have a lot of care experience for the role and Abicare is going to pay for all of the training. They are also going to shadow any placements that are successful while doing a DBS check to ensure that everything is in order as it should be.
Abicare has come out to say that they are angry about the Russian invasion and that is why they are working so hard with the local authorities. They are trying to make sure that accommodation is being given to those who are applying for the jobs. They are also looking into live-in care which means that the refugee is going to be staying in the home of the client during their rota, or their stay.
Everyone is saddened to hear about the situation but at the end of the day, something has to change. That is why UK companies are doing what they can to support those who truly need it, while also working with refugees to give them new opportunities.
