Pledge to value home care staff launched for National Carers Rights Day

Radfield Home Care launched its Caring for Carers Pledge to mark National Carers Rights Day.

The home care company based in the West Midlands provides a wide range of professional care services from palliative and respite care to helping out with the housework.

The pledge aims to promote good practice and encourage other home care providers to provide their staff with pay that is above the national minimum wage, travel time pay and on-going training and support.

Hannah MacKechnie, director of Radfield Home Care, said: “This year’s campaign is centred around educating those who care for a friend or relative about the information, advice and support that is available to them. Although we’re absolutely delighted to back such a worthwhile cause each year, and actively support friends and family in need of help, advice and respite, we felt that the industry, as a whole, needed to put more emphasis on the importance of employed carer welfare.

“We therefore decided to formalise an official Caring for Carers Pledge to promote good practice across the care sector, and as a plea to other providers to look after their staff with on-going training, support and appropriate pay.”

Rates of pay for home care staff do not tend to cover the time it takes for a carer to travel to and from a person’s home, and with cuts in social care budgets, many carers are being forced to work below the national minimum wage.

“At Radfield, we empower our staff to go above and beyond client expectations, and one of the ways we achieve this is by ensuring that our carers receive ample rates of pay that exceed the minimum wage and reflect travel time. I would strongly encourage those working in the care sector to raise any pay or training concerns with their employer,” added Dr MacKechnie.

This year, there has been spate of reports over the low wages that home care staff receive. See www.homecare.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1561702/third-of-home-care-providers-pay-under-minimum-wage and www.homecare.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1560913/social-care-employers-risking-national-minimum-wage-scandal

Dr Hannah MacKechnie launched Radfield Home Care in 2008 alongside her brother Alex Green, after realising the need for providing people with bespoke personal care packages that focus on promoting independence and helping people to live as full and enjoyable a life as possible.

A qualified GP, Dr MacKechnie has extensive experience working within hospitals across the Midlands and in New Zealand, while her brother Alex brings a wealth of expertise within the charity and financial field, following years working with banking giants HSBC and Halifax, as well as having gained a Registered Manager’s Award in 2008.

Radfield Home Care has offices in Shrewsbury, Worcester, Stafford and Chester.

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