Why there needs to be an uplift in salaries in the care sector - Minette Keyter

Whilst there was no uplift from the government in income last year, we gave our employees two pay rises, both to acknowledge their hard work, but also to help retain them. Chasing the payments every month to enable us to pay the salaries is however also becoming an increasingly difficult problem. It is added pressure we don’t need, time we don’t have, and unnecessary stress.

In the meantime I have been looking at our calendar of events for our staff for this year. It’s magical seeing the whole team coming together, often along with family members so that they get to enjoy seeing the fun. Our Christmas party was just brilliant, and we also hold barbeques in the summer months at the housing development for our individuals called Treetops. This is what the care sector is all about – supporting people with complex needs and ensuring they take part in experiences that we often take for granted.

This is where we genuinely make a difference to individual lives. Our focus is enabling them to have as much independence as possible and achieve a high quality of life. The job satisfaction of seeing each person achieve new goals is something hard to convey to new starters. Whether it is someone cooking a meal for themselves or helping them to do their own food shopping for the first time, these are all important milestones. We are enabling our individuals, through positive behaviour support, to achieve new goals every week. Working in care is not just a development opportunity for the carer – you are making a difference to others too.

We also have staff wellbeing packages incorporating Sodexo store discounts, free counselling and monthly payments towards phone bills – something we did long before the pandemic to support our workforce with their bills. And more recently a death in service benefit, to give families peace of mind.

This year I have launched monthly raffles, drawn by a support worker, but focussed on healthy lifestyles, with all the gifts focused on improving health. Prizes include a light therapy lamp, a Smart watch to count steps and calories, all supported with information about the health benefits of the gift. We have also linked up with other Yorkshire companies, supporting them in providing Ringtons tea and coffee hampers for all our staff at Christmas, full of other gifts.

There is also a misconception that ‘care’ is a dead-end industry and not a career. Whilst we do take on some less skilled workers, they immediately have the opportunity of training and career progression. Through our Positive Behaviour Support courses and specialist training, it is not long before new starters move on from the complex cases to more experienced roles and more skilled care. We support training in NVQs, apprenticeships and Ops training, nothing is off limits for anyone who wants to progress their career.

I have been a classic example, benefitting from the encouragement and support within the company and passing my CIPD Level 7 this month. The perception of care being a dead-end job is outdated and needs refreshing.

We also listen to our staff and respond to requests for things they suggest, such as branded jackets and more recently lunchboxes. That clearly shows there is a sense of pride in wanting to showcase the company name and to be seen to be part of such a caring organisation.

We are however limited in our business growth and development because of the staff shortages. This is impacting directly on people’s lives, and our referral list now stands at over 25 individuals, including two children. These are people who are stuck in hospital beds, or in inappropriate care settings, and who would massively benefit from being moved to our individually designed services and accommodation. We will soon be providing accommodation for a lady who has spent over 30yrs in hospital, a hard sentence for me to even say, but just imagine her opening the door to her new home after all that time. Being cared for, enjoying outdoor space and not in a hospital setting.

The care sector is a brilliant and supportive place to work, and we are doing all we can to both encourage people to work with us and look after the individuals who urgently need our support.

How can we continue to achieve this? Fair pay for a fair day’s work. An uplift in salaries in the care sector to acknowledge the skilled work and long hours that people commit to. We won’t survive without it.

Minette Keyter is head of HR at Happy Futures Support Specialists.