Care work, although a valuable and honourable career path, is not always given the credit and status it deserves.
Social care training is variable at best, and care workers are not always given clear goals to focus on, unlike workers at Stepping Out.
There Are Signs of Change
But there are signs of change on the way. A care certificate, due to be introduced in March 2015, is aimed at setting a universal minimum standard of training that all new care workers must gain within 12 weeks of starting a job.
Current care workers will have to prove they already have an equivalent level of training.
To care for someone with a specific complex condition – such as dementia, or motor neurone disease – a care worker needs specific training and guidance. This is something which Stepping Out takes seriously.
One Million Jobs By 2025
The social care sector needs to fill one million extra jobs by 2025, on top of the current 1.6 million.
Recruitment and retention are vital to achieving this, and slowly but surely, this can be achieved if everyone involved in the sector played a part in helping.
Hence, the important of training. Existing staff need to be trained and honed in order to deal with the ever-changing work that goes on in every semi independent living project. Stepping Out’s recognition of this is one of the key reasons it remains one of the UK’s most trusted semi independent living providers.
How else can employers make sure that their staff are up to date with their training, and do you feel this initiative has the potential to be expanded on a nationwide scale?
Please let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
On a side note, Stepping Out have been hiring regularly for some time now. So, if you want a career in social care, let us know!
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