The Welsh government has announced a further £10 million to help newly recruited care workers pay for driving lessons and purchase electric fleet vehicles.
Being unable to drive or not having access to a vehicle is one of the main barriers to recruitment into the sector and can limit the number of hours domiciliary care workers are able to work.
The Deputy Minister for Social Services, Julie Morgan said: “I am very pleased we are providing an additional £10 million to local authorities to increase capacity in domiciliary care.
“Domiciliary care workers being unable to drive is cited as one of the main barriers to recruitment and can limit what services can be offered by providers. This funding will support the sector to meet these challenges and help people return home from hospital by increasing the provision of services.
“In addition, there are significant delays for driving test dates due to the pandemic. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has agreed to prioritise test dates for Welsh domiciliary care workers who are waiting to sit their driving tests.”
For more information visit homecare.co.uk
Almost 20,000 home care workers have left their jobs since September when the government first announced its ‘no jab no job’ policy but its decision to scrap it from 15 March, has been welcomed by care bosses.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has confirmed its Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment (VCOD) policy (originally due to come into force on 1 April for home care workers and the NHS in England) will be revoked effective from 15 March, after consultation with the NHS and care sector.
No jab no job U-turn ‘preventing further care workers leaving’
While the regulations had already come into force for care home workers last November, a vaccine mandate had not come into force for home care workers. With many home care bosses reporting they have lost staff since September, the U-turn was welcomed.
“We are very pleased the government is reversing the VCOD regulations and therefore preventing further care workers from leaving the workforce”, said Dr Jane Townson, the chief executive of the Homecare Association, which has a membership of over 2,340 home care providers in the UK.
“We have always strongly supported vaccination against COVID-19, as it helps protect the recipient from severe illness and death. However, we believe persuasion is more effective and proportionate than compulsion, in encouraging uptake amongst the remaining workers with a genuine fear about vaccination.
“We also need to balance the mitigated risk of infection with the very real risk of even more older and disabled people going without care due to workforce shortages.”
Domiciliary care bosses have reported that 89 per cent of home care staff had received one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, as of 13 February 2022.
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Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that all care home visitors, apart from those giving personal care, will no longer have to test for Covid and tests will continue to be free for staff and residents, according to the government’s ‘Living with Covid’ guidance.
Free testing for the public ended on 1 April but all those living and working in ‘high risk settings’ such as care home, hospices and home care organisations will still receive free lateral flow testing.
Free testing needed for visitors ‘to safely visit’ residents
The majority of visitors to adult social care settings including care homes will not be required to take a test according to the new guidance.
Only the ‘small number of care home visitors who provide personal care’, known as essential caregivers, still need to test. They will be able to get free tests but will not need to test more than twice a week.
Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said the government has “forgotten” that visitors to care homes need testing so they can “safely visit their relatives”.
He said: “This must be funded by the government.”
A high street chemist has revealed it will charge £17 for a pack of four lateral flow tests.
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