Working in care can be a monumental undertaking. It can be hard work both mentally and physically. Many carers can be stretched to their limits without the proper support and training.
There are many types of carers with a wide range of responsibilities; from young carers looking after a loved one to adult carers visiting homes and looking after people with severe disabilities all of these roles are important and all need support.
Many of these carers are not receiving the correct training. There are regularly stories in the news regarding the lack of training given to carers, this in-turn has a powerful impact on how they are able to perform their duties.
There are over 40,000 carers living in Bristol alone, (according to the 2011 census) with over 9,000 of those who provide more than 50 hours of care a week.
Working as a carer can often lead to negative impacts on health and wellbeing. According to recent research by Carers UK in 2014:
- 6 in 10 carers have been pushed to breaking point
- A quarter of those who had reached breaking point required medical treatment as a result
- 46% of carers said they had fallen ill but just had to continue caring
- 1 in 9 said the person they cared for had to be rushed into hospital, emergency care or that social services had to step in to look after them while the carer recovered
- 1 in 5 were forced to give up their jobs because they were in crises
The numbers of carers will only continue to increase in the years to come as people are now living longer with disabilities and long term health conditions.
We need to ensure we are looking after the carers as much as they are looking after their charges. Here at News Directions Social Care we:
- We have an open door policy, we encourage our staff to come and talk to us if they have any worries big or small.
- We build strong relationships with our staff and are conscious of our staff reaching a burn out point with their health and mental well-being and we are mindful of them working long hours in bulk and prolonged work with complex clients.
- We check in with staff when they have been ill, worked long shifts and worked with new clients. We offer support and training which is led by the candidate and this has been integral as our staff are regularly referring new candidates to us as an agency that does care and does support.
- We also provide comprehensive training for all of our staff on stress management, time management to try and upskill our staff on taking care of themselves as much as possible.
Training
We offer a professional and effective service that can be delivered at our own training venue in central Cardiff or at our clients own premises. Our flexible approach enables us to offer evening and weekend courses to suit our clients’ needs.
We specialise in food hygiene, health and safety and health and social care training. We also provide courses in guest care, supervisory and management skills and specialist skills training combining both classroom style delivery and on site coaching.
We aim to deliver the best possible service, ensuring the training is interesting and tailored to your needs.
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