Latest News from Everycare
In 2020, 46,000 women died from dementia compared to 41,000 women who died in the same year from Covid-19, researchers reveal.
According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, dementia became the leading cause of death for women in the UK in 2011 and has remained at this position, including in 2020 at the height of the pandemic where fewer women died of Covid-19.
The charity’s analysis, The Impact of Dementia on Women, is calling for action as part of the government’s new Women’s Health Strategy and its Dementia Strategy. It’s now urging the government to deliver on its Dementia Moonshot promise to double research funding and convene a Dementia Medicines Taskforce to speed up progress in finding new treatments for this devastating condition.
‘This report shows that its impact is hitting women particularly hard’
Hilary Evans, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “It’s shocking to see despite dementia becoming the leading cause of death for UK women more than a decade ago, this situation remains unchanged today. Dementia is devastating for every person it affects, but this report shows that its impact is hitting women particularly hard.
For more information visit homecare.co.uk
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has urged the government to remove all charges to immigration visas and set a minimum wage of £10.50 an hour for care workers in England to help alleviate the impact of workforce challenges.
The MAC report, which briefs ministers on immigration policy has put forward 19 recommendations, which it says will alleviate the challenges facing the social care sector, including recruitment and retention.
The National Care Forum (NCF) the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group (VODG) and the Homecare Association have welcomed the report and said this “reiterates some very important issues” which includes issues of underfunding and how this continues to “exacerbate challenges to providers”, high staff vacancy and turnover rates and the “impact of low pay and the care workforce challenges”.
‘We know the true value of care work is much more’
Vic Rayner, chief executive of the NCF and member of the social care expert advisory for the MAC said: “While a focus on the minimum pay for care workers in this report is a helpful contribution to this issue, the NCF has consistently called for an independent pay review for social care, which involves employers, commissioners, and employee representatives with a view to implementing a new career-based pay and reward structure which is comparable with the NHS and equivalent sectors and fully-funded by central government.”
The VODG is also urging the government to “embrace” the committee’s recommendations to fully fund a rate of social care pay above the National Living Wage.
Dr Rhidian Hughes, chief executive of VODG said: “At present, charities are prevented from improving pay rates because funding passed down by central government to local authorities falls woefully insufficient.
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
Following predictions the NHS would be hit by a loss of over 70,000 frontline staff and a fifth of the home care workforce would quit if the mandate was introduced in April, Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced yesterday evening to the House of Commons that the government is removing the legal requirement for all health and social care staff in England to be double jabbed against COVID-19.
The mandate for care home staff to have the jab came into force on 11 November and led to thousands of care workers being sacked.
Mr Javid said: “While vaccination remains our very best line of defence against COVID-19, I believe it is no longer proportionate to require Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment through statute.
“So, Madam Deputy Speaker, today I am announcing that we will launch a consultation on ending Vaccination as a Condition of Deployment in health and all social care settings.
“I have always been clear that our rules must remain proportionate and balanced – and of course, should we see another dramatic change in the virus, it would be responsible to review this policy again.”
Mr Javid explained that the vaccine mandate was put in place because of the severity of the Delta variant, but now with the Omicron variant being the dominant variant and less severe plus the success of the vaccine rollout, he says it is only right the policy was reviewed.
For the full story visit homecare.co.uk
