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Covid jab could be required for England care home staff

Deckchair care covid vaccination image

Care home staff in England could be mandated to receive a coronavirus vaccine in new plans under consultation by the government.

Ministers are seeking views on the proposal, which would see the jab requirement introduced this summer. It is not currently known if the requirement would be imposed on domiciliary care companies, but it would make sense if it did.

Currently, 100% of the Deckchair carers have either had 1 or 2 jabs or are waiting their first (usually new starters). Overall care staff vaccination rate is below 80% in 89 out of 150 local authority areas, including all London boroughs. In 27 local authority areas less than 70% of staff have had a jab.

NHS England figures show 78.9% of older adult care home staff have had a jab.

Across England, on average, 94% of those aged 50 and over in the general population have been vaccinated.

Read more on the BBC website.

About Deckchair Care

Deckchair Care are an independent, privately-owned care agency. We look after the elderly in Cheshire and South Manchester.

Read more about our care service

Thanks to ChatGPT for help creating and editing this article.

elderly care

Deckchair Care are an independent, privately-owned care agency. We look after the elderly in Cheshire and South Manchester.

Read more about our care service

Thanks to ChatGPT for help creating and editing this article.

elderly care
elderly care
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£3m Social Care Recruitment Scheme

Home much does home care cost

Charities and care groups have said that the “long overdue” recruitment drive would not be enough without fundamental changes to improve working conditions.

650,000 workers will be needed by 2035 to look after rising numbers of older patients, ministers said.

Care experts pointed out that around 400,000 social care workers leave the sector every year – a turnover rate of 30.7 per cent, twice the national average.

As of February 2018, the average hourly rate for care workers in the private sector is £7.82 per hour, a penny less than the national minimum wage for over 25s. (Deckchair Care pay £10ph and guarantee a salary – no zero hour contracts – unless people want). See our care agency jobs page.

Industry low wages are the biggest barrier to hiring and holding on to staff for 80 per cent of care agencies.

While the government promised social care reforms back in 2017, a pledged green paper has been delayed multiple times and still has not got a publication date. Meanwhile staff leave to work in better paid NHS roles or quit altogether.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Our green paper, published shortly, will look at long term sustainable solutions for the adult social care system including how we can recruit and retain a valued workforce.

“In the meantime there is huge demand for more care professionals and we need to spread the word that careers in adult social care can be hugely rewarding, varied and worthwhile.”

Read more about this topic in the Independent here.

About Deckchair Care

Deckchair Care are an independent, privately-owned care agency. We look after the elderly in Cheshire and South Manchester.

Read more about our care service

Thanks to ChatGPT for help creating and editing this article.

elderly care

Deckchair Care are an independent, privately-owned care agency. We look after the elderly in Cheshire and South Manchester.

Read more about our care service

Thanks to ChatGPT for help creating and editing this article.

elderly care
elderly care
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Age UK Warns Government Over Brexit

Care agency service

Age UK are urging the Government to act to keep EU care staff coming to work in the UK.

The government has already agreed exemptions for the agriculture sector to allow the continued supply of farm labourers into the UK from the continent – Age UK is insisting similar measures are introduced to the care industry.

EU nationals currently make up 104,000 of those working in care in the UK, and that number is rising.

Caroline Abrahams, the charity’s director, said: “The government has granted a partial exemption from the new rules for fruit pickers and Age UK believes it should remove care workers from this proposed post-Brexit regime altogether.

Under a new rule recommended by the Government’s Migration Advisory Committee, carers would be considered ‘low skilled EU workers’ and would not get preferential access to the UK labour market after we leave the EU.

Age UK has written to home secretary Sajid Javid saying EU carers must be exempt from proposed new rules that say low-skilled EU workers should no longer have preferential access to the UK.

Read more about Age Uks campaign here

About Deckchair Care

Deckchair Care are an independent, privately-owned care agency. We look after the elderly in Cheshire and South Manchester.

Read more about our care service

Thanks to ChatGPT for help creating and editing this article.

elderly care

Deckchair Care are an independent, privately-owned care agency. We look after the elderly in Cheshire and South Manchester.

Read more about our care service

Thanks to ChatGPT for help creating and editing this article.

elderly care
elderly care