A life-changing Kirklees Council scheme has been nominated for a national award after supporting hundreds of people into a career in social care – making sure vulnerable people get the support they need.
The
In2Care Kirklees initiative, established in 2017, aims to attract more people
to work in social care and has been shortlisted for Guardian Public Sector
Award in the Recruitment and HR category.
With
an ageing population, there is an ever growing need for social care. The
Kirklees care sector has a workforce of approximately 12,800 but, according to research,
care jobs could rise by 25-45 per cent by 2030. This would require an
additional 5,700 workers.
Historically,
care providers struggle to recruit, causing major issues on their ability to
provide services. This leads to a high volume of people waiting for services
and delays in hospital discharges. Many potentially excellent care workers are
taking up careers in other industries.
Determined
to change this, and to make sure elderly people in Kirklees receive the care
they deserve, the council’s Adult Services team started to look at how they
could increase the borough’s social care workforce.
In2Care
Kirklees provides a local personal matching service between applicants and
employers. The team pull together the applicant’s skills and personal
requirements and circulate their details to potential employers. This removes
the barriers of traditional application processes and means people aren’t
applying for roles which are not right for them.
They
also work alongside local employment schemes to help people requiring
additional support. This includes supporting harder to reach groups and giving
them opportunities to receive training, job shadowing and support to find
employment.
In2Care
has also engaged with Kirklees care employers to establish a ‘one stop shop’
advertisement space on Facebook for current job opportunities.
The
team also builds relationships with care providers to challenge poor practice,
identify missed opportunities and inspire change.
Since
2017 the scheme has already had a huge impact and has supported over 530 local
people into local social care jobs - including 190 in domiciliary care, 178 in
residential care and 67 personal assistants. 43 per cent of applicants
appointed were previously not in work and 39 per cent were new to the industry.
Cllr
Mus Khan, Cabinet Member for Social Care, said: “There’s
a social care crisis. Our population is ageing and we have a rapidly growing
demand to deliver the care that vulnerable people need and deserve.
“We need more people to take up a career in social
care and this is an issue that the whole country faces. It sadly means that
people are having to wait for the care they need in many cases and this simply
isn’t good enough.
“What the In2Care scheme has done so brilliantly
is reach out to people who would make great carers but need more flexibility
because of their family or home life. For example, hours or days they can work,
specific shift patterns, non-drivers, and unsociable hours. They also offer
people the extra support they might need to get their foot in the door.
“Jobs
so important such as these need to be made more flexible so everyone has an
equal opportunity to apply and our vulnerable people aren’t missing out on
potentially excellent carers.
“It’s
a fantastic scheme which is not only helping people into work but helping to
ensure that some of the most vulnerable people in Kirklees get the care they
need.
“It’s
absolutely worth of being shortlisted and deserves the recognition for the huge
difference it is making to people’s lives.”
Winners
of the Guardian Public Sector Awards will be announced on 26 November.
