South Devon care provider welcomes new national adult social care recruitment campaign

A SOUTH Devon care provider has welcomed a new national Government-driven adult social care recruitment campaign launched to boost the workforce and attract more staff into the sector (April 2020).

The initiative ‘Care for others. Make a difference’ was launched last week (April 23) to help attract more people into social care and to highlight their vital role during the pandemic.

Catherine Porter, Manager at Guardian Homecare, which has teams operating in Exeter and surrounding areas, says: “We heartily welcome this industry-wide campaign to inspire the public to consider a career in social care now and in the future. The initiative will also help raise awareness of the invaluable work we do 24/7 and shine a light on us as frontline carers, shielding the most vulnerable in our communities and protecting the NHS from demands on its finite resources.

“We need to fill 100 roles immediately here in south Devon and while we’re currently coping well with the demands being made on our teams due to the Coronavirus, we do need more help with pushing out the recruitment message.”

The Government wants to encourage more people with the right values and attributes to consider a paid career in adult social care work.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock said: “During these unprecedented times, we are all grateful to the huge number of social care workers working day and night to provide quality care to the most vulnerable in our society.

“I want this campaign to reignite the search for people with a zest for caring and protecting our most vulnerable to step forward to join them.”

The campaign includes the new CARE brand for social care, which symbolises the entire care profession. The brand aims to raise the profile of the care sector and allow businesses to show them the same appreciation as NHS workers.

Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, comments: “There are thousands of people who are kind, skilled and dedicated and who have the necessary values and qualities to become part of the social care workforce. Social care transforms lives and enables people to live well. The satisfaction and rewards of delivering social care are incalculable and we hope that there will be many people who will come into the social care workforce and achieve a satisfying and rewarding career.”

Currently, 1.5 million people work in adult social care, but the coronavirus outbreak has put additional pressure on the vital work already being provided by the sector.

Catherine adds: “We need new colleagues who are able to treat others with respect, listen to their needs, understand their emotions and be warm, kind and honest.”

Guardian Homecare delivers personalised home care supporting people wishing to stay living safely and comfortably in their own homes in south Devon.

“We’re currently looking for more staff to help ensure service users are kept happy and physically and emotionally well at home. If you are fit and well and want to make a substantial difference to people’s lives at this acute time, we can train you quickly and enable you to help those who are vulnerable, who may not see a person other than their carer from one day to the next. We really need your help to add to the frontline workforce and ensure that the elderly in particular have help.

“Anyone interested should get in touch. Our office team will be able to have a chat with you and they will be able to set up interviews via Skype or Facetime to talk you through everything. The Government has also taken steps to ensure a quicker turnaround on DBS checks, so we can get people into work more quickly than before.

“We will be able to provide our free, full training on a fast-track basis to make sure everyone we take on is ready. This includes a company induction, first aid, information on dementia, health and safety, food safety, infection control, handling medication and moving and handling service users, with the opportunity to achieve Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) after the initial three months probationary period.

“New recruits are given free uniforms, access to national staff discount scheme for all major brands as well as 28 days paid holiday, paid travel between calls and paid mileage.”

Anyone wishing to help the elderly and vulnerable in south Devon during the current crisis, can sign-up be a home carer with Guardian Homecare by visiting www.guardianhomecare.co.uk or https://www.facebook.com/GuardianHomecareUK/jobs/.