We are delighted to announce the finalists in this year’s Care at Home and Housing Support Awards. Thank you to all who submitted nominations and congratulations to all who have been shortlisted!
Winners will be announced at our Awards Ceremony, hosted by Michelle McManus and Dr Donald Macaskill on the evening of Friday 13 May 2022 at the Radisson Blu, Glasgow. If you are interested in booking an Awards Table, please contact [email protected].
Our Transforming Workforce Lead, Dr Jane Douglas, will be hosting a virtual event on Thursday 12 May 2022 to celebrate International Nurses Day. This event will run from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm and will be hosted on Microsoft Teams.
Please see the flyer below for a brief outline of the event. Further information to follow.
Nurse Event 2022 Flyer (1)
Scottish Care is urging the Scottish Government and COSLA to take immediate action to support frontline care workers in light of the ongoing and extreme rise in fuel costs.
The representative body for independent sector social care services is warning that homecare staff in particular are being impacted by the hike, and that this rising cost is likely to put critical care and support in jeopardy.
Deputy CEO Karen Hedge said:
“The fuel hike is a critical issue for the care sector, with many staff reliant on their cars not only to commute to work but to deliver essential care and support in the community day in, day out.
Homecare services across Scotland are already incredibly fragile due to unsustainable funding and staff shortages. It is crucial that they can continue delivering care, but we are already hearing instances where fuel prices are proving to be another compounding factor; staff calling in sick because they can’t afford the petrol to get to work and reliance on taxi services to get staff out to people’s homes at extortionate cost. The ability to pay travel costs for staff is more important than ever.
We need the Scottish Government and COSLA, on behalf of Local Authorities, to immediately consider what funding and support can be put in place to protect care staff from the worst of these price hikes so that they can deliver the essential care and support that our communities require.
Otherwise, we will see a deepening of the care crisis as more dedicated and skilled staff are driven out of the care sector and services close due to inflationary costs that they simply cannot meet. We have all seen through COVID-19 how essential our social care sector is – for it to be dismantled by this fuel situation would be a catastrophe and government at all levels must work with us now to prevent this happening.”
ENDS
For more information, please contact [email protected]
Key organisations working with and for older people throughout the UK1 have come together to call on the Prime Minister to take further action2 to support older people in Ukraine, and those seeking refuge in other countries, and ensure that our response to the escalating humanitarian crisis takes account of the specific impacts and challenges older people will face.
In a joint letter setting out the action required, they have highlighted that many older people in Ukraine will be trapped and isolated in their homes, with limited support available from families, friends and neighbours, as they will be unable to make the treacherous journey towards safety due to limited mobility or ill-health.
The letter also outlines concerns that older people will be unable to access crucial supplies, including food and medicines, as well as basic utilities and clean water, which will put their health at even greater risk.
Alongside calling for action to ensure that humanitarian agencies are able to provide supplies and support to older people, the letter also calls for the UK Government to take further action to remove visa restrictions to ensure that more older people are able to find safety and sanctuary in the UK.
The letter has been co-signed by a number of key organisations working on behalf of older people throughout the UK and internationally, including the Older People’s Commissioners in Wales and Northern Ireland, and Age International.
Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, Heléna Herklots CBE, said:
“Many of us will have felt powerless as we’ve watched news reports highlighting the ways in which people’s lives have been torn apart by the Russian invasion, which is why it crucial that we take action where we can in order to support older people in Ukraine and those fleeing to safety.
“I am greatly concerned that many older people in Ukraine who are already trapped, isolated and vulnerable will soon be unable to access clean water, food, medicines and utilities, and that older people who need to escape to safety will be unable to do so.
“That’s why I’ve brought together key organisations working on behalf of older people to call for more action from the UK Government to ensure that additional support is provided to older people in Ukraine and to make it easier for older refugees to escape and find safety and sanctuary in neighbouring countries or here in the UK.”
Commissioner for Older People in Northern Ireland, Eddie Lynch, said:
“It’s vital that the UK takes into account how the escalating crisis in Ukraine specifically impacts older people, many of whom are unable to make long and dangerous journeys to safety due to failing health or mobility issues, making them particularly vulnerable.
“For those older people who cannot flee, access to essential supplies such as fuel to heat their home in falling temperatures will also become increasingly difficult. It’s crucial that humanitarian agencies get access to these vulnerable older people to supply them with all the resources they need.
“I hope that by coming together with other older people’s organisations across the UK, our unified voice will be heard loud and clear by the UK government and that they will make urgent preparations to ensure that we are ready to welcome older refugees when they arrive on our shore.”
Chris Roles, Managing Director at Age International said:
“We know from our work in the conflict zones of eastern Ukraine since 2014, that older people are incredibly vulnerable in these terrible situations. Many older people and those with disabilities will be unable to flee the violence: they may be housebound or unable to walk without support. Some can’t make the long arduous journey out of the country because their health is bad, or because they are suffering from osteoporosis or heart disease, and so won’t be able to make the trip.
“We are working with our partners in Ukraine providing emergency food and water kits, medical, hygiene and dignity kits, and support in response to the trauma that so many will be experiencing. And for those older people and their families crossing into neighbouring countries, we want to provide all these things and shelter too.”
1. Full list of Signatories Below:
How can social care staff play a central role in the sector’s recovery post Covid-19?
It is an uncertain time for everyone in Social Care. Alongside ongoing efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, there are systemic problems that have been driven by lack of priority, resource and funding for the sector. Social care staff have given their all in responding to the pandemic where work and life balance has become harder to separate. For some, the very idea of returning to the life they had before lockdown feels impossible.
We want to hear what social care means to you and how, working together, we can achieve recovery from the pandemic and for the sector as a whole. We have some big questions that we would like to explore. For example:
But what are your questions? Your ideas? Your thoughts?
This event, organised by Scottish Care, in partnership with Abbotsford Care will bring together people working and learning in social care and key social care stakeholders.
The event will be facilitated by Improbable, a theatre company who specialise in using a process called Open Space Technology (OST). OST is a simple way for groups of people to think, work and take action together around a shared concern. There is no pre-set agenda, and you decide what is important and what gets worked on. This event will be held in person, allowing you to input into several different conversations in a single session.
These events are free and open to all. The more voices we have in the room, the more ideas we can bring together. All you need to do is register your place and we will send you details about how to participate closer to the time. The event will be a relaxed environment.
The conversations will be in English. If you require any access support (including captioning or BSL interpretation), please let us know in advance.
The 2022 Care at Home & Housing Support Conference and Exhibition will be held at Radisson Blu in Glasgow on Friday 13 May 2022.
Early bird tickets are available for purchase until Monday 28 March 2022.
Scottish Care members can purchase tickets at an discounted rate of £54. For non-members, the early bird ticket is £100+VAT. So take advantage of the lower price, and book your place before then!
Balhousie Care staff open up about the COVID pandemic in exclusive new research
There is a “moral obligation” to provide more psychological support to care home staff as they continue to live with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That is the conclusion of a research study in which staff from leading care provider Balhousie Care Group share the emotional and physical effects of the pandemic, and their coping mechanisms.
Care and nursing staff who took part in the study, conducted by the University of the Highlands and Islands and Northumbria University, share how they sacrificed their own family lives for the sake of turning up to work every day and looking after their residents. They also tell of how they kept each other’s spirits up and turned to each other for emotional support.
“It’s a war in a lot of ways,” said one respondent. “We have to stick together then keep moving forward.”
The research team also drew comparisons between their findings and stories of the camaraderie that occurs in the military during wartime. Dr Michelle Beattie, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of the Highlands and Islands and Research Lead, said the research team was struck by how Balhousie Care staff supported each other through the toughest times the care sector has ever seen.
“They felt like it was a war against the pandemic. There was a sense of ‘we need to pull together and face this together’. You read about that sense of camaraderie in the military and people deploying to war but not that much in healthcare. None of us had seen that before in any previous work,” said Dr Beattie.
The researchers were “blown away” by the personal sacrifices made by staff, which included moving out of their own homes so that they reduced their chances of passing on the virus to care home residents, said Dr Beattie. “Not seeing your children because you want to protect your residents from COVID. To me that’s a whole other level of self-sacrifice,” she said.
In the words of one respondent who took part in the study: “I had said to myself from Day One, I would never not go and care for my residents. That’s just not me. I wouldn’t put myself before them. I’ve been in this job for 10 years, and I’m not going to let some virus take away what my life is. I’ve put my life into this job.”
Care home managers share the extra stress of supporting their teams in an ongoing crisis, while not revealing their own struggles. Coping mechanisms included tears and laughter in equal measure, the study found. “I found myself sneaking off to the toilet to have a wee cry, just to get the emotions out… I never took work home with me, I just left it there,” said one respondent.
“Honestly you have just got to laugh. It’s a very serious job, taking care of people, but you just need to be able to have a laugh and a sing song and get Alexa on. That’s how I’ve coped,” said another.
Dr Beattie said the poignancy of some of the accounts led researchers to find their own coping mechanisms. The research team formed a buddy system so that after interviews with Balhousie staff a researcher was able to debrief and talk to a colleague for support.
Respondents to the study were brutally honest about the difficulties of being under scrutiny from the public, the media and health inspectors whilst dealing with outbreaks of COVID-19 and staff absences. They told of the “unreasonable and unrealistic” demands on them from inspectors. “We’ve not had COVID and here’s the inspector picking me up because I’ve got version two of a poster instead of version three. It’s just ridiculous,” said one respondent. Another concluded: “Sometimes people are forgetting these are residents’ homes.”
One respondent explained their frustration with the public and media focus on the NHS: “Where everybody flocked, again, to the NHS to support and volunteer and the nurse banks flourished, we were again in the dark going ‘Hello, can somebody come and help us?’”
Since the start of the pandemic, Balhousie Care Group has introduced a new employee assistance programme which offers free counselling and advice, and worked with one local authority to create ‘reflective sessions’ for staff to help with their wellbeing during the pandemic. Homes have also set up private chat groups for staff and private Facebook pages for relatives, to aid communication among staff and between care homes and relatives.
Said one respondent in the study: “Those words of support [on our home’s social media page] have been great, and I know that if there’s anything anybody has a problem with or if I had a problem, then we can open up in our group chat.”
The study concludes that there is “a moral obligation to provide psychological support to care home staff” to avoid distress and psychological health problems. It recommends ‘safe spaces’ for healthcare workers to reflect on their pandemic experiences, a “cultural shift” to acknowledge their “unique and high-quality contribution to care”, and care home inspections that are supportive and “avoid a ‘tick box’ mentality.”
The qualitative mixed methods study took place over four months between January and May 2021. Academics surveyed 52 healthcare workers from Balhousie Care Group’s 26 care homes, conducting follow-up interviews with thirteen.
Lindsay Dingwall, a co-author of the study and Clinical Care Quality Manager at Balhousie Care Group, said: “The commonly used word to describe a hero is ‘to show courage’, so we can safely say that since March 2020 care home staff have earned that description. As emotional and raw as this study was for our respondents and the researchers, it was hugely important to be part of it. For the sake of our employees and residents, and in honour of everyone who has lost a life in the last two years, we wanted to help document not only what care workers have gone through, but also their dedication to their jobs. A massive thank you must go to the respondents who took part.”
Scottish Care comments:
“Anyone reading this research cannot but be moved by the stories of dedicated and sacrificial professionalism and compassion shown by frontline carers and nurses. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about immense challenge to so many thousands of frontline care staff. We have had lots of statistical and academic reports and commentary but the story of frontline carers who were there through thick and thin has rarely been told and this is so valuable.
“However, what is clear from this research is that there has been a distinctive and significant impact upon the mental health and wellbeing of care staff. Witnessing the early deaths of those whom you have cared for over a number of years has left a deep wound for many carers and it is one which is still as raw and real. It is imperative that we develop bespoke and specialist support that appreciates the unique experience of these women and men and the prolonged grief syndrome they are suffering.”
“It is critical that all stakeholders read this report because it could be told a hundred times over up and down Scotland. We have to learn the lessons of disproportionate and unnecessary scrutiny and inspection; of alleged oversight support which has made staff feel devalued and unskilled; of investigations in the name of assurance which has made staff feel culpable; of media commentary which has sought to find blame and scapegoat; and of external governmental intervention, clinical advice and infection, prevention and control (IPC) guidance which has made care at times so challenging and impossible rather than serve to support the skilled professionals in our care homes and to uphold the human rights of residents.”
The full results of the study can be found here: Stress and Coping Experiences of Nurses and Care Workers in a Care Home Setting During the Covid-19 Pandemic (uhi.ac.uk)
More about the findings can be heard in a podcast produced by Balhousie Care Group. Listen here.
For more information on Balhousie Care Group visit www.balhousiecare.co.uk
Scottish Care will be hosting a webinar on Operation Koper on Monday 21 March, 2:00 – 3:00 pm. Staff from the Crown Office including the Senior Lead for this work, Stephen McGowan will deliver an update on Operation Koper. Members will also get the chance to ask any questions in a Q & A session.
Please note that this webinar will be hosted on Microsoft Teams as a meeting rather than our normal Zoom Webinar format.
This session is for Scottish Care members, registration is required, the registration link is available in the Members Area of this website, please contact [email protected] if you have any issues accessing this.
The meeting invite will be sent to those registered a few days before the session.
Scottish Care is delighted to be working with Healthier Working Lives (HWL) programme (funded by the Innovate UK). This programme assesses the challenges and opportunities for the over 50’s care workforce and is led by King’s College London in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh.
The team is acting to tackle a crisis facing care workers and organisations. The adult social care sector is at a tipping point. A recurring set of issues have been rendered more intense by COVID and Brexit regulations. Demoralised experienced professionals are leaving in droves, many employees are chronically underpaid and business models are broken.
The crisis is reflected in unusually high levels of workforce turnover and vacancy rates. Many service provider owners and managers are struggling to maintain care quality levels with limited resources and increasing costs.
Find out more about the programme and how you can contribute here.
The closing date for this year’s Care at Home & Housing Support Awards has been extended to Thursday 4 March 2022, 5:00PM.
The workforce in the Care at Home and Housing Support are often undervalued and unheralded. The Awards are a tremendous way to show how care staff are highly skilled and compassionate individuals, who work tirelessly day and night to support people in their own homes. We are keen to make sure that all the excellent work taking place across the country is recognised and rewarded. So, please take this opportunity to recognise and celebrate the excellence displayed by the workforce, services and clients in the homecare sector by submitting your nominations now.
There are 10 different award categories that you can nominate in:
For the awards ceremony itself, we are hoping to have an in-person ceremony hosted by Pop Idol winner and presenter, Michelle McManus and Scottish Care’s CEO, Dr Donald Macaskill on the evening of Friday 13th May 2022 at Radisson Blu, Glasgow. However, please note that this may be subject to change depending on Government Covid-19 guidelines at the time of the event.
If you are interested in booking an Awards table, please contact [email protected].
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