Warnings over Health are Staff Burnout

CARE England, the largest representative body for independent providers of adult social care, has welcomed the report from the Health and Social Care Select Committee on workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care.

Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, says:- "Whilst the workforce is resilient it is only as resilient as the funding and support behind it hence the need for adequate long-term support for the sector. We want to work with the Prime Minister to ensure that his promise to reform social care is delivered upon and carries the views and experiences of those at the front line. Money alone is not the answer, we need to ensure that social care is established as a career with the kudos associated with due professional isolation and 1 way to deliver that would be a ten year plan for workforce akin to that of the NHS."

The inquiry examined workforce burnout across the NHS and social care in particular the increased pressures brought about by Covid19 and the resilience of services to cope with high levels of staff stress.  The key recommendations are as follows:-

► Repeats call for Health Education England to publish:- objective, transparent and independently audited annual reports, on workforce projections covering next:- 5, 10 and 20 years, including:- assessment of whether sufficient numbers are being trained.

► Workforce projections should cover social care as well as the NHS.

► DHSC should produce a People Plan for social care as a priority, aligned to the ambitions set out in the NHS People Plan.

► Level of resources allocated to mental health support for health and care staff should be maintained as and when the NHS and social care return to:- 'business as usual' after the Pandemic.

► NHS England should review role of targets across the NHS which seeks to balance the operational grip they undoubtedly deliver to senior managers against the risks of inadvertently creating a culture which de prioritises care of both staff and patients.

Martin Green continues:- "As we made clear in our written submission and oral evidence, health and social care are 2 sides of the same coin. It is therefore essential that the adult social care workforce has the same access to resources as colleagues in the NHS. Maintaining the financial sustainability of social care providers is of fundamental importance in maintaining the capacity of the integrated health and care system and the resilience of the adult social care workforce."
 

RESPONDING to the Health and Social Care committee's report:- "Workforce burnout and resilience in the NHS and social care." Dr Katherine Henderson, President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said:- "The findings of the report may be shocking to some, but will come as no surprise to health leaders and health care workers. The College has long raised concerns about workforce shortages, staff burnout and lack of funding, and has been calling for a workforce plan and a joined up strategy to manage the exit from the Pandemic. The health service is facing an overwhelmingly challenging time and the previous lack of workforce planning has let existing health and social care staff down. The workforce was short of staff before the Pandemic. Existing staff, after 15 months of incredibly tough work when they lived on adrenaline and a lot of good will, are now facing a significant jump in demand and pressure. They are exhausted and burned out, physically and mentally, and many have had little, or no respite and are now back in the deep end facing a rise in intense pressures and hospital activity. And there is a growing risk that senior clinicians could retire early, or junior staff leave the profession, leaving a less experienced and smaller workforce behind. Following today's publication of the Health and Social Care committee's report we hope that the Government and Members of Parliament will now recognise the severity of challenges that the health service and its staff face and take necessary actions. The Health and Social Care committee provide welcome and detailed recommendations. If no action is taken, there will be, as the report says:- 'an extraordinarily dangerous risk to the future functioning of both services'."
 

THE Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram, has announced the opening of a new support service offering a wide range of in person services to help young people into:- education, training and employment across the Liverpool City Region.

As well as a comprehensive online service offering events, careers information, advice and guidance, young people will also be able to get in person support, at a network of 8 initial Youth Hubs across the City Region.

Based in existing organisations with a strong track record of supporting young people, Youth Hubs are also home to expert Job Centre Work Coaches who are there to help people find, stay in, and progress in a job.

The hubs will form a key part of Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram's Young Person's Guarantee, a manifesto commitment that promises a job, training or apprenticeship opportunity to all under 25's. When announced last year, the scheme was the 1st of its kind in the country and has since been replicated in Scotland and Wales.

Speaking about the service, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said:- "Too many young people across our Region are too often denied the chance to reach their full potential, not because they lack talent, but because they lack opportunity. The impact of the Pandemic has only made things worse, with the poorest and most vulnerable hit the hardest. I know better than most the transformative impact that some decent careers advice and the opportunity to prove yourself can have. I want to make sure that all our young people get that same chance. These Youth Hubs will be an invaluable part of making that happen, offering careers advice and guidance; help accessing opportunities in training and education and giving our young people the support they need to shape their own destiny and get on in life. I'm very proud to have just been re-elected on a promise of no one left behind. I'm already getting to work on making that a reality, starting young people in every part of our Region."

The accompanying Youth Hub website is an extension of the Combined Authority's pioneering Be More service and is the first in the country to include details of hundreds of jobs available through the Government's Kickstart scheme for those unemployed 16 to 24 year olds who are eligible.

Youth Hubs are a national Department for Work and Pensions initiative aimed at helping young people access support, to develop their skills, understand their career options and get the employment and training advice they need.

Minister for Employment, Mims Davies MP said:- "By rolling out our DWP Youth Hubs across local communities like these in Liverpool City Region, means young people will, importantly, be able to access vital, suitable support from our Work Coaches in a range of settings helping to match them with local opportunities; whether it's more training to boost confidence or focussed help to assist them to move into employment. This is a challenging time, and we are serious about investing in our young people as we get Britain back working again and moving further into recovery. That's why, as part of our enhanced Youth Offer, we are also injecting ₤2 billion into the DWP Kickstart scheme, creating new, subsidised, high quality roles for under 25's as we continue our work to protect, support and create jobs."

Youth Hubs are available to any young person within the City Region who needs support. Individual Youth Hub services can be found at the Local Youth Hubs Page Each hub is tailored to young people, so whether you're interested in starting your own business, require specialist support or just need someone to talk to everything is covered.

The 1st 8 face to face Youth Hubs are open at:-

► Merseyside Community Training [Birkenhead, Environmental Innovation Centre]

► Big Onion [Bootle, Strand Shopping Centre]

► Merseyside Youth Association [Liverpool, Hanover Street]

► Thrive [Liverpool, Preston Street]

► Ellergreen Community Centre[Liverpool, Ellergreen Road]

► Joseph Lappin Centre [Liverpool, Mill Lane]

► Genesis Kickstart2Employment [St Helens, Beacon Building]

► Employability Solutions @ The Reach [The Reach, Parklands, Speke]

► More Youth Hubs will open over the coming months.

For more information about The Kickstart Scheme please see:- YouthHub.Be-More.Info/Kickstart/.
 

SCHOOL children across the City Region can now access a free, interactive online resource to learn more about air quality and its impact on the community that has been developed by Teachers, at Sefton's Eco Centre.

All City Region Schools are being offered free access to the subscription only sections of the Clean Air Crew website. Children will be able to access fun, interactive resources and games, as well as a plethora of topic based curriculum resources.

The website and all resources have been designed and developed by Teachers and Environmental Officers from the Southport Eco Centre and the Local Authority's Energy and Environmental Management Team, in order to engage children on this important environmental issue and provide an innovative platform for Teachers to embed the subject into their topic planning.

Air quality has been highlighted as 1 of the City Region's key environmental and health policies and it is hoped that the resource provides an accessible platform for engagement for all. Parents will be able to access home learning resources too so that everyone can understand how they can help improve air quality in our borough and why it is important.

Schools have got until 30 June 2021, to sign up, at the Clean Air Crew website.

Schools will have access to the subscription education resources until April 2022 and many of the sites other features will remain public beyond this date.

Cllr Paulette Lappin, Cabinet Member for Regulatory, Compliance and Corporate Services said:- "Air quality is a key issue for the health of our community and the health of our planet. We have made progress in Sefton on the issue of air quality, but we can still improve. We are currently in a climate emergency and any steps we can take to reduce our emissions will reduce our contribution to rising sea levels, rising temperatures and extreme weather. The Clean Air Crew is a fantastic resource to help people understand the risks of poor air quality and how we can all make small changes that make a big impact."

Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, said:- "Since I was 1st elected Mayor, tackling the climate crisis has been one of my top priorities and I was proud that we were the first Combined Authority in the country to declare a Climate Emergency in recognition of the scale of the challenge we face. But it's not something we can tackle alone and that's why I launched the ₤500,000 Community Environment Fund; to empower local communities to take action to improve their local environment. Together, lots of small actions can help us make a big contribution to making our Region cleaner, greener and more sustainable. Tackling air pollution is 1 of our key challenges and this fantastic project is doing a brilliant job at raising awareness of the importance of clean air issue among Sefton's pupils and parents."

The project is being funded by the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority's Community Environment Fund after a successful bid in 2020 and is delivered by the Eco-Centre, in Southport, Merseyside.

Visit the Clean Air Crew website or the Southport Eco Centre website for more information. You can find out more about air quality in Sefton, on Sefton Council's website.