The Social Care Crisis
You may have read or heard on the news about The Social Care system beginning to break down and that over 900 carers leave the profession every day. This is quite a sombre report but we, at Care Wyvern, know that we are one of the many businesses that go above and beyond for both or carers and our clients.
BBC News reports that they gathered data from the charity Skills for care, from 2015-2016 stating that more than 1.3 million people were http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39560735employed in the adult social care sector in the UK. BBC News analysed the data and found that:
- An estimated 338,520 adult social care workers left their roles in 2015-16. That is equivalent to 928 people leaving their job every day. The Skills for Care figures show that the industry has a staff turnover rate of 27%, which is nearly twice the average for other professions in the UK, according to the BBC report.
Care Wyvern has a robust recruitment and selection process. The aim of our selection procedure is to ensure that the most suitable candidate is chosen for the job and that all applicants receive fair and equitable treatment. Care Wyvern provides its existing staff with an opportunity to indicate their interest in vacancies as they come up and to advance within Care Wyvern according to their skills and experience.
Applicants are shortlisted by comparing their application form with the person specification for the job. All shortlisted candidates are offered an interview and given details of Care Wyvern, the position for which they have applied and the terms and conditions of employment. We are always open and transparent, throughout the recruitment process, assuring each applicant is aware of his or her responsibilities and what they can expect from Care Wyvern.
Our turnover of people leaving is lower than average. Many of our carers, who leave for different reason, do in fact return to Care Wyvern.
Our recruitment and selection procedures focus on the protection and safeguarding of Clients. All new staff are subject to completing a satisfactory criminal records Enhanced check (DBS), depending on the post, and of checks made against the current DBS barred lists if the post involves regulated activity.
Care Wyvern practices an equal opportunities policy and wishes to recruit and employ those people who are best suited for the vacancies for which they have applied, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, age or perceived age, religion, ethnic origin, race, disability or union membership (or lack of it). All applications (and their ultimate selection or rejection) is reviewed against equality and diversity criteria
- The average full-time front line care worker earned £7.69 an hour, or £14,800 a year. One in every four social care workers was employed on a zero hour’s contract.
Care Wyvern offers a variety of contract for all our employees. These include a Zero Hour Employee contract, a Guaranteed Hour Contract and a Salaried Hour Contract, both Full and Part time hours. We offer set pattern shifts within our Salaried Contracts. We believe these contracts give a new employee choice and stability.
Our pay rate starts from £7.70 per hour with an opportunity to earn an extra 30p per hour within our Plus 30 scheme. We recently launched “Plus 30 “with the intention of rewarding hard work, reliability, and commitment. This scheme has been welcomed with enthusiasm by all our staff.
Care Wyvern aims to be the care provider of choice, both to those funded and private. We accept that the care sector is going through changes and proactively analyze and adapt, to meet with those demands. Our Care Coordinators work hard to deliver responsive call times for our clients. Work is allocated to meet the needs of our clients but also in sympathy of our carers, their travel and contact time with each client.
We always welcome feedback and insights from our clients, other professionals, and our carers. If you would like to contact us please do call on 01823 325554 or email info@carewyvern.co.uk
11.04.2017