New Care Minister visits London Care
Yesterday, our London Care branch in Rotherhithe welcomed the new Care Minister Gillian Keegan MP on a visit organised by Homecare Association CEO Jane Townson.
The Minister met members of the care worker team at the branch to hear first-hand about the challenges they face in delivering care in Southwark. Gillian Keegan MP explained the Government’s plans to tackle the social care crisis following its recent funding announcement.
Director of Policy and Communications Max Wurr said, “We are delighted that the Minister chose to visit one of our companies within just a few days of taking office and were encouraged by her willingness to listen and by her positive approach. We will await this autumn’s social care White Paper with interest to see more detail about how the new funding will reach the front line and support our wonderful and dedicated workforce.”
You can read more about the visit on the Homecare Association website. Huge thanks go to the branch manager Olu Fademi and Regional Director Sarah Kwofie for their help in organising the visit.
Homecare Association rebrands and relaunches
Our professional association, The Homecare Association (formerly the UKHCA), has rebranded and relaunched its fantastic new website. You’re all invited to pay a visit and bookmark the page here.
The Homecare Association is the UK’s membership body for homecare providers, ensuring that homecare is valued so that all of us can live well at home and flourish within our communities.
The association has been a real ally and voice for our sector for many years and especially over the past eighteen months and we think they’ve done an amazing job with the new image – do let us know your thoughts so we can pass them on.
Changes to international travel rules in England
From 4am on 4th October the rules for international travel to England will change. The current traffic light system will reduce to a single reduced red list of countries, and simplified travel measures for arrivals.
The rules for travel from countries not on the red list will depend on each traveller’s vaccination status. However, PCR tests will not be needed for fully vaccinated travellers returning to England.
You can read the full rules on the red, green and amber lists here.
Have your say on mandatory vaccinations for care staff
Don’t forget that the Government needs your input on plans for staff in all health and care settings in England to be required to have COVID-19 and flu vaccines. The intention is to protect vulnerable people and follows the recent decision to make vaccinations mandatory for staff in care homes.
As we shared with you last week, we will be making a corporate response to the consultation. However, individual employees and members of the public are welcome to make their own personal responses here.
Kellie and Neil tackle three peaks in three weeks
Complete Care Amegreen’s Kellie and Neil completed their #3PEAKSIN3WEEKS challenge in support of the Spinal Injuries Association over the weekend by conquering Ben Nevis! We’re sure we speak for everyone when we say how proud we are of them both. They have tackled some obstacles along the way but they didn’t let that stop them and they can now say they have reached the summit of
the three highest peaks in the UK.
In Kellie’s own words “I have been working with Spinal Cord Injured clients for 10 years now and I feel extremely privileged to be marking my 10 year anniversary with this challenge of a lifetime. I am honoured to be sharing this milestone with a charity and organisation so close to my heart.”
Having now completed the three peaks, Kellie has said that Ben Nevis was by far the most challenging and she says “the one thing that remained on my mind and got me to the summit of the 1,345 metre mountain, was remembering the reason I am doing this, for Martin, his team and the SIA.’”
Please join us in congratulating Kellie and Neil, and lets do all that we can to mark this fantastic achievement by reaching their fundraising target of £2000! Small or large, every little helps, please follow this link to donate and show your support.
Welcome to the North Devon team our new Care Manager Sian Jones!
Over the past 20 years Sian has acquired a vast amount of knowledge and experience within the care sector which is partly why we believe she is perfect for HomeLife Carers.
Sian hosts an approachable and supportive attitude towards her care staff with an ‘open door’ policy and a desire to see all staff progress both personally and professionally.
In addition to her role as Care Manager, Sian also visits our service users in the community alongside our dedicated team of care workers across North Devon.
Sian’s aim is to offer a more personal service, and with a smaller, close-nit team in place we believe this will have a positive effect on both our care staff and service users alike.
These are exciting and promising times ahead for HomeLife Carers and look forward to you joining us on this journey.
Webinar – inspiring quality in social care
Skills for Care is holding a webinar to celebrate quality in social care in England, looking at:
- What is quality in social care?
- Living quality: sharing experiences and tips on quality social care from the perspectives of local government commissioners, providers, and people with lived experience.
- Future quality: what will change in how we approach quality over the next 2 to 3 years and what will the potential impact be?
The event, which is part of the Quality Matters initiative and has been developed by a group of national social care and health organisations led by NICE and Skills for Care, will explore people’s experiences and perspectives about what quality means in adult social care, both now in pandemic management and recovery planning, and what quality social care means in the future.
The webinar is suitable for anyone working in frontline adult social care management with an interest in improving quality of service delivery. It takes place on 14th October 2021 at 1.30pm and you can register here.
Natasha’s marathon for mental health
Natasha Punter from the Business Support Team returned to the office recently after successfully completing the Brighton Marathon in aid of CALM – the Campaign Against Living Miserably. 
Natasha’s reasons for tackling a challenge in aid of mental health are incredibly personal, she told us, “My very dear friend of 22 years took her own life last year after her mental health deteriorated quite rapidly during lockdown. She was young, so full of life and the very LAST person I thought would walk in front of a train.”
“In the month after this I saw a film on the BBC about a young man whose mental health was adversely affected during lockdown last year, and he took his own life leaving his fiancé and young son, he was just 27. The pandemic affected mental health far more than we think and CALM are a charity trying to help families and anyone struggling mentally with thoughts of suicide. CALM supported his family through the aftermath but said they could not even fund their helpline past 5pm, which really hit home how charities were also affected last year, and I felt I had to fundraise for them.”
“I’d never even thought about running a marathon before but thought why not – it was a good way to raise funds and take on a personal challenge. And I raised £770 in the end!”
Such an impactful story Natasha and congratulations on smashing your first marathon. It’s not too late to support Natasha’s amazing cause either, you can find out more and donate on her Just Giving page.
