Still Struggling to Recruit

THE UK's the largest and most diverse representative body for independent providers of adult social care, Care England, has polled its members to ascertain the most pertinent workforce pressures facing the adult social care sector. Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, says:- "This is the second Workforce Sense Check Survey that we have run this ¼ in order to understand which workforce issues still persist within the adult social care sector. Both surveys demonstrate that an overwhelming majority of members, over 95%, are struggling to recruit and retain staff."

When asked in the 1st survey if members were struggling to recruit staff, prior to the implementation of Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment, 100% of responses indicated that they were. The second survey indicated a less than 5% reduction in this struggle despite the introduction of a greater degree of centralised support, including ₤300m to help providers recruit and retain staff.

The 2nd survey indicated that the reasons for difficulties around staff recruitment included:-

► Lack of available workforce for providers to recruit from.

► Negative press around the sector leading to a poor perception of social care.

► Low rates of pay and there are no rewards or bonuses for care staff to incentivise work.

► High competition with other sectors, such as:- retail and hospitality, who are able to offer higher pay rates that social care cannot compete with.

► Insufficient funding from Government or Local Authorities to help recruitment into social care.

Martin Green continues:- "A stable social care sector is the bedrock of the NHS; it is however evident that the challenges in recruitment remain insurmountable. As a critical friend to Government we want to work with them to ensure that any available funds reach the frontline and don't get caught up in a tangle of bureaucracy or siphoned off. Our workforce is our best resource and we need to treasure it at all costs."

Care England Staff Changes

CARE England has announced that Ann Mackay and Louisa Collyer Hamlin will be leaving Care England this year. Louisa will be leaving in the middle of February and Ann in the middle of March. Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, says:- "Ann and Louisa will leave a very strong legacy for Care England and an enormous gap in our team. However, I want to reassure everyone that Ann and Louisa have developed a very strong and brilliant policy team, and though they are a tremendous loss, I have confidence that the team will continue their work and ensure Care England remains the premier representative body. I will be reviewing our current structure and moving swiftly to ensure these vital roles and functions are covered."

Ann has worked for Care England and its predecessor bodies for many years, and she has decided to retire and take a very well earned rest. Ann's knowledge and networks within social care are unparalleled, and she is highly respected by Care England members and all key stakeholders, and she will leave Care England with a great legacy of achievement. Louisa has also worked for Care England, and its predecessor bodies, for many years, and she has decided to leave to concentrate on her family life and other interests. Louisa has worked tirelessly to ensure that Care England has a high media profile, and her Parliamentary work has also been outstanding and has positioned Care England as a respected and authoritative body with politicians of all parties, and in both Houses.

Have your say and help transform the health of City residents

A group of people exercising Description automatically generated with medium confidence A brand new City wide consultation has launched with the aim of creating a thriving leisure offer that all Liverpool residents can benefit from. Residents are being asked to fill in a short online survey which will give the City Council an insight into how people in the City currently stay active, what sports and activities they want in their community and what service improvements they would like made. The questionnaire aims to find out which types of facilities are used (private or the Council's Lifestyles gyms), what is the main driver for people getting active, how often people take part in physical activity, whether the Pandemic has changed exercise habits and what encouragement would residents need to use the City's parks and green spaces more. Latest figures show around 30% of Liverpool residents are inactive, so the team also wants to hear from these people to find out what barriers they're facing and how the Council could support them on their journey to fitness and improved health. The responses will help shape a new approach over the coming years which will focus on transforming the health and wellbeing of residents; with a focus on hotspot areas of inequality. The feedback will also allow the team to ensure current leisure services are meeting the needs of those who require it the most. The physical activity survey will take around 10 minutes to complete and can be found at:- Liverpool.Gov.UK/Consultations. Translated versions can be downloaded from the website or hardcopy versions can be obtained by calling:- 01512333000. The survey will close at midnight, on Sunday, 20 February 2022, and the findings of the study will be released in April 2022. The survey is the latest in a number of consultations that Liverpool City Council has held in recent months, giving residents the opportunity to have their say on different, important Liverpool issues.

Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member responsible for physical activity, sport and leisure, Councillor Harry Doyle, said:- "These consultations are a vital communication tool with residents; as a Council we need to be listening to local communities and finding out what is and isn't working for them and how we can work together to make a real difference. As a user of the Council's Lifestyles Centres, I am passionate about physical activity and know how valued participation in sport and activity is within all our communities. Being active is 1 of the best things you can do for yourself; for both your physical and mental wellbeing. We want to make sure we have a plan of action in place for the next 12 years which supports and encourages everyone in making positive choices that get them moving. To achieve this we need a snapshot of what physical activity means for our residents at this moment in time. We want to hear from as many, different people as possible - those who enjoy a walk in our parks, gym goers, people who take part in organised sports, those who aren't active at all and those who take part in active travel. Only when we are armed with this information can we then work with everyone across Liverpool to deliver a leisure service which will be a game changer.'"

UCLan leads pilot study into innovative digital stroke rehab tool

A pilot research study into a potentially quality of life enhancing digital stroke rehabilitation tool has launched. The Virtual Engagement Rehabilitation Assistant (VERA) is a bespoke digital tool being developed by The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust and Citrus Suite software company, with research, funded by The Stroke Association and MedCity, led by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). Through an individualised programme, VERA aims to vastly improve patient recovery and how survivors adapt to life after a stroke. It allows mobile devices to access a range of applications to support rehabilitation and provides patient information, images and videos to guide bespoke personalised exercises, treatment information, a daily schedule and support. It is hoped the tool will empower stroke survivors by improving their understanding of rehabilitation and increasing their personal motivation and opportunity to participate in therapy. By streamlining the process, VERA aims to increase the availability of rehabilitation therapy to stroke survivors, help healthcare professionals use their time more effectively and ultimately, save the NHS money.

Dr Ganesh Bavikatte, Consultant and Clinical Lead in Rehabilitation Medicine at The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, said:- "Every patient who goes through the rehabilitation journey with The Walton Centre and our partners in the Cheshire and Merseyside Rehab Network, has a different experience. It is really personal to them. This digital tool will help us provide a bespoke process for each patient which will support our teams to provide the very best rehabilitation and therapy programme.'"

The pilot study begins this week. It aims to investigate VERA to identify who might benefit from, and to better understand, this digital technology. Dr Kathryn Jarvis, Senior Lecturer in Occupational Therapy at UCLan, is the research lead on the project.

She said:- "We have worked closely with stroke survivors and healthcare professionals to develop VERA and the supporting training materials. In the study, we will gauge how VERA could be used to increase activity and functional recovery in neurological rehabilitation. In addition, we will explore how VERA can be implemented in a complex neurological in patient setting.'"

The initial idea for VERA came from a hackathon held in 2018, at The Walton Centre, and was then developed in a partnership between The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, UCLan and, at a later stage, Citrus Suite. The Walton Centre Charity was provided ₤37,000 to develop a prototype, and funding of almost ₤60,000 to test the research came from The Stroke Association and Med City.

Richard Francis, Head of Research at the Stroke Association said:- "We are delighted to be funding this exciting virtual rehabilitation project in partnership with MedCity. As a charity we know the vitally important part research plays to ensure stroke survivors can access the latest and best rehabilitation after stroke. Every stroke is different and so is every recovery, so personalising therapy is key to helping stroke make the best possible recovery. We know that stroke survivors are still not accessing all the rehabilitation they need, which has only been made worse by the Pandemic. That's why funding these new technologies could help improve and increase access to personalised rehabilitation. Stroke strikes every 5 minutes and it changes lives in an instant. There are now 1.3 million stroke survivors living in the UK and we believe that everyone deserves to live the best life they can after stroke."

The results of the study will be published later this year.