Carers deserve better pay, Oswestry director claims
An Oswestry care company director has called on the Government to put more money forward and pay carers more money to address a recruitment shortage.
A national campaign has been launched to recruit 110,000 people to fill vacancies in the social care sector.
It has been launched by the Department of Health, and runs to the end of March.
Last week Radfield Home Care backed the company, which will include advertising and recruitment events, and care companies including Radfield have been asked to provide case studies and advertise vacancies.
Trevor Upshall, a director at Allenby Douglas Care in Oswestry, believes the issue boils down to money and carers needing to feel valued by being paid the correct amount.
A study has found the average rate of pay for care work is just above the legal minimum, at about £7.89 an hour.
He said the Oswestry firm pays £1 an hour over the minimum wage rate, and that is why they do not have issues with recruitment.
Fortunate
He said: "That is what it comes down to. The government needs to put more money in, and that is all well and good me saying that because it is not my money, but that would solve the problem.
"People look at a carers wage and know they can earn more money stacking shelves in a supermarket.
"We are fortunate here we have had carers here for a very long time, but I know some care companies who pay just £25 for an overnight sleep over.
"Workers need to be valued and paid better. We pay £1 over the minimum wage, which isn't huge but it helps."
Last week Radfield Home Care Owner and director Dr Hannah MacKechnie said the campaign "has not come soon enough" for the care sector, which has an eight per cent vacancy rate.
Dr MacKechnie said: "Our focus is providing exceptional care to people in our local communities and without exceptional care staff, we cannot achieve this.
"The care sector provides incredibly rewarding job opportunities and at Radfield we offer great rates of pay, flexibility around family life and fantastic career progression.
"When you can do such a worthwhile job and really make a difference to other people’s lives, why would you want to work anywhere else?”
