Misconceptions can make it difficult to recruit new entrants in a sector with 110,000 vacancies at any one time
Mon 30 Sep 2019 09.33 BST
Last modified on Mon 30 Sep 2019 12.24 BST
With 1.47 million jobs across more than 21,000 organisations, adult social care is vast. Those in the sector – whether a care assistant, support worker, home manager, occupational therapist or registered nurse – often say its rewards come in myriad guises. That it’s the satisfaction of knowing they’ve made a difference; that they build relationships with people who become like family; and that the achievements – big and small – they witness people making, with their support, stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Perhaps because it is so varied, there are a number of misconceptions about the sector. We asked those on the ground what it’s really like working in adult social care.
Although the median age of workers in the sector is 43, that number has stayed stable for the past six years, suggesting more younger people are joining. Despite this, 71% of parents said they wouldn’t encourage their children into a social care career. Shannon Summerfield, a 20-year-old support worker with Dimensions in Wales, thinks that’s a mistake. She was working at a supermarket before deciding to give care a try in 2018. She works with four women in a supported living residence who have needs such as autism, cerebral palsy and dementia.
“I enjoy making a difference,” Summerfield says. “It’s a young person’s job as well. I think [we] have more energy and are up for doing more things.” She’s recently started accompanying one of the residents trampolining each week. “I think [the older staff] would have been a bit put off by it. They don’t really want to be bouncing around on trampolines.”
Although the numbers of men in care homes are increasing, with life expectancy between the sexes expected to level by 2032, there is still a lack of male staff in adult social care. Only 18% of the workforce are male, with a staggering 85% of men asked saying they would not consider it as a career (although it’s lower among 16- to 25-year-olds, at 76%). That needs to change, Brian McNaught, care home manager at Anchor Hanover’s Birkenhead Court, says. “It boils down to care and empathy. All the rest you can learn. Whether you’re a man or woman, young or old, is irrelevant. You’ve either got it or you haven’t. The men I work with are second to none … We are seeing more males in our homes, and if all the staff team are women, maybe the male residents will struggle with that.”
If you work hard, you’ll get up the ladder
Some misconceptions have made it difficult to recruit new entrants. There are around 110,000 vacancies at any one time, and an estimated turnover rate of 30.7%. But this is a growing sector, with the addition of 275,000 new jobs since 2009, and an increasing hourly rate that is above the national living wage. Half of care workers have a relevant qualification, rising to 84% among senior staff.
Sarah Mair, The Arkley Care Home’s manager, has found there have been lots of opportunities to build a career. Five years ago, she was running her own scrapyard, before starting again as a care assistant. She’s since earned a number of qualifications including the NVQ level 5 diploma in management and leadership, and is Bupa’s youngest care home manager at just 26. “You get out what you put in,” she says. “I started on £6.50 an hour. But if you work hard, you’ll get up the ladder.”
There are four main settings of adult social care: residential (including care homes), day care services, domiciliary (including supported living) and community care. Peter Riding, who is 25, came from a hospitality background but is now a support worker at the PSS Making Days South day centre in Liverpool. “I do key work for four people, ranging from 21 up to 65,” he says. “I do their support plans, look after them, help support them to go to an appointment – it can be anything and every day is completely different.”
More than 130 people with learning disabilities attend the centre during the week, enjoying activities such as Zumba and bowling, photography and floristry. Riding runs the choir and a men’s group, and says he’s never been happier. “[The impact is] not only on the people we look after,” he adds. “My life’s changed completely doing this, it’s so lovely.”
When asked about adult social care, personal care is often mentioned. But those on the ground say it’s very quickly not an issue, and care is about so much more. Tracey-Anne Greenland, a member of the enrichment team at Mavern House in Wiltshire, says it’s about building a community, and finding opportunities for residents to discover new interests (or maintain old ones). “This is a new chapter, a new beginning in their lives,” she adds.
Riding says he found the idea of personal care daunting initially, but “once you’re here and you’re supporting people, then it all goes out the window”. He adds: “I spend more time with these people than I do my own family, I know them really well. When they need something, it doesn’t matter what it is, you’re there to help.”
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/30/social-care-career-myths-busted
