Quality care training is essential if the care sector is to overcome negative stereotypes

Home care providers should be required to demonstrate their quality when registered to practice, advises the co-founder of family-run Radfield Home Care, Dr Hannah MacKechnie, who calls for a new industry accreditation to be introduced.

Reflecting on how care training initiatives have developed over the last five years, Dr MacKechnie has reached the conclusion that such a commitment is ideal for safeguarding quality of service, as well as helping the care industry to see public confidence in its performance restored.

Perception of care

Although keen to point out that care abuse scandals, which have received heightened media attention over the last few years, are isolated cases, Dr MacKechnie accepts that the public’s image of care has taken a bruising and hopes that renewed commitments to quality can assist providers in rejecting any negative misconceptions of what is largely a high-performing industry.

On the reputation of the profession, she comments: “With an ageing population and medical breakthroughs seeing people live longer than ever before, the quality of care provided to the elderly has become a talking point both politically and through the media over the past few years. A number of undercover media investigations and reports have exposed a number of abuse and neglect cases, which have unfortunately impaired the reputation of responsible carers, and as a result more families are expecting care providers to demonstrate a higher quality service when supporting their loved ones.”

Keen to repair this damage, Dr MacKechnie recommends setting out a new accreditation, as well as insisting that the sector look to the quality of its care training programmes in order to ensure the competence and professionalism of current and future employees.

“The social care sector is set to become even more vital going forwards and, to ensure individuals receive a high quality service from skilled staff, training should be a top priority. In order to provide an excellent service it’s essential carers are more attuned with the people they care for, and introducing training for a wide-range of issues can help this. I’d also suggest that an industry accreditation is introduced where care providers are required to demonstrate the quality of service they offer, so service users and families can rest assured the skills and expertise of those caring for them have been recognised on a national scale.”

Benefits of personalisation

Important steps have been taken over the last few years, however, in spite of well-publicised failures in service, with Dr MacKechnie believing that service users and their families can feel far more secure on issues of well-being. This is largely thanks to care training programmes now being directed towards teaching professionals to get to know the needs of the individual, adapting their ability to suit each client’s unique circumstances.

She continues: “In recent years, a greater emphasis has been placed on personalisation where the support is tailored to the needs of the individuals, rather than a one-size fits all approach. This often sees carers meet with the individuals and their families to draw-up a care plan that enables them to receive the support they need, whilst retaining their independence and dignity.”

Tied in closely with this drive is the need to understand the challenges of caring for individuals with memory loss, with the increasing number of adults diagnosed with dementia likely to prove the central challenge in the years and decades ahead. “Dementia care in particular,” she says, “is a service that has become more needed, with the number of those living with the condition steadily increasing. Many carers now undertake specialist training to support those living with dementia to enable the individual to continue to live independently at home with dignity.”

Looking forward, Dr MacKechnie believes training programmes should extend to incorporate more sensitive needs and a broader understanding of particular care challenges.

She says: “Although there are no formal qualifications required to become a care worker, some care providers undertake rigorous training with their staff, developing their skills and improving their overall knowledge when caring for an elderly individual. This in turn has seen more firms increase the services they provide with rehabilitation, palliative care, and the ability to administer medication more prominent than before. It’s this advanced knowledge that enables carers to provide a more in-depth service than ever before, and offers families the reassurance that a highly-trained, compassionate individual is caring for their loved ones.”

Workforce development

Managing director of , Victoria Short, points out that training and also recruitment are essential for making sure there is a sufficient quantity and quality of resources in place to meet the healthcare challenges the UK faces.

Ms Short points out that there are many factors involved, but insists that research points towards the UK experiencing a gap between employer demand and workforce supply as both funding restrictions and also immigration policy take effect on a sector heavily reliant on both.

She comments: “Cuts to healthcare funding and workforce streamlining has forced many UK nurses to consider a move abroad in order to further their careers. This, coupled with a restrictive migration policy has left the UK nursing labour market overstretched and under resourced.

“Unfortunately, the UK represents a much less attractive option for both domestic and overseas talent than it did a few years ago and without foreign talent bolstering the nursing workforce the sector will have to deal with a large black hole over the coming years. If migration policy is to remain prohibitive then there must be a push to incentivise and train new nurses into the workforce.”

Ms Short continues: “No one can question the importance of the healthcare sector and while our projections for the size of the nursing workforce are conservative, they paint a concerning picture for the UK’s future welfare. Unless we can plug the employment gap, the healthcare sector is under threat.

“We also already know from the increasing requests we see every day to supply nurses for urgent same day cover that the service is under severe strain. If it is unable to perform efficiently over the coming decades, there will serious consequences, not only for the country’s health, but the knock on effects of the government having to fund an understaffed service.”