By Amrit Dhaliwal, Chief Executive of homecare company Walfinch
Well, why NOT elevate the care profession? All of us in the care industry stand to benefit – as does our whole society .
We desperately need thousands more carers, but while millions of people dream of being doctors or nurses, few dream of a care career. Yet care is as much a profession as either of these, but it’s just not seen as such.
This is something the care industry should – and can – change.
Elevating the care profession must start with carers. Skills for Care reported that around 1.52 million people worked in adult social care in England alone in 2022-23. These are the people we have to convince that they are professionals. Instead of carers saying, “I’m just a carer”, we want to see them proudly telling their friends and family about what they do.
They will transform the image of the care profession – but only if we treat them like the professionals that we know they are.
That means better training. The launch of the new Level 2 Adult Social Care Certificate qualification, backed with over £50 million of government money, is a move in the right direction. It’s a portable qualification, so holders will not have to be retrained every time they change jobs, freeing up potentially thousands of carers to start work instead of being trained in what they already know.
As employers we need to provide carers with access to more paid training in both care skills and management, and give them time off to do it. We could also give them time for Continuous Professional Development (CPD) annually, in the same way as doctors, dentists and nurses.
Carers also need better employment conditions and benefits.
Yes, it will all cost money, but providing training attracts ambitious people and improves retention. Training grows your team in-house, saving money and time on recruitment, while building a better team, and improving care quality for clients. That means more personal recommendations for your service – much the cheapest form of marketing.
Boosting the image of care
There’s plenty we can do as an industry to elevate care as a profession.
An advertising campaign, jointly funded by care providers, to show care as a professional, vocational career, like healthcare, will boost interest. We need to see adverts on the television, the sides of buses, and billboards, and to see carers and care leaders on television, in both adverts and programmes, talking about the value of a care career.
Many carers wish to become nurses, so if we can highlight the value of care experience and qualifications as a route into nursing training, even more people will be attracted to care jobs.
Care is a sector you can get into with little or even no formal qualifications, where training is provided – rare in today’s working world. This is a valuable asset in attracting new entrants.
As care providers we must highlight the opportunities it brings to get into a profession.
