What the workforce strategy means to me as a care worker

Care worker Kyly Chapman talks about her career in care and what the workforce strategy means to her.

I never expected to end up working in care. I was made redundant from a supermarket role nine years ago and started working in a nursing home soon after before moving onto domiciliary care.

At the time, being made redundant was the worst thing that could happene but it completely changed my life for the better. I ended up in a job role I was passionate about; I learned so much about myself and it opened up a whole world of things I had no knowledge of as I was supporting people with health conditions I didn’t know about - mainly dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

Moving into domiciliary care helped build my confidence. I had to learn to think for myself. I love getting to know people, learning about their lives and what makes them, them.

I’m excited for the Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care as there’s so many positive elements of working in care which will be developed further. I’m also hopeful that it will change many challenges faced when it comes to care work; one of which is retaining staff. By improving pay, working conditions and the wellbeing of staff, people will want to stay in a job role which comes with so much reward – every day you’re making a difference to someone’s life. Supporting learning and development for care workers is also an important part of the Strategy.

Learning has helped to build my confidence, and I use this to support not only my clients but other people who work in the care sector.

I’ve completed a Level 2 NVQ in Health and Social Care and really enjoyed the dementia unit. Last year I I spent six months in my own time completing a course ay my local college on end of life care, as this is an area I’d love to work in one day.

I joined Homecare Voices over a year ago, a non-profit peer support network for homecare workers. I volunteer part-time for them and have attended seminars and meetings where I’ve had the opportunity to input things which I think would help improve social care. I also co-hosted an online meet up about end of life care using what I’d learned in my college course.

The care sector is constantly changing, people’s needs have changed, people are living at home for longer and we regularly face challenging situations. I used to think that care was just for old people but the youngest person I’ve supported was in their 20s and the oldest was 101. We support people of all ages and training needs to be relevant to reflect this.

I’m pleased that dementia training will be a focus of the Workforce Strategy as this is such a complex condition and you will not meet two people living with dementia that can be supported in the same way. By developing training people can be supported for longer in their own homes, the care and support they receive will be more person-centred and there will be less of a strain on the NHS.

I’m hoping that the Workforce Strategy will change people’s perception of care workers. We’re often misunderstood; we’re very skilled and can do more than make a cup of tea. The recommendations from the Strategy will also mean that care providers will have the confidence that they have highly-skilled and competent staff that enjoy their job and want to remain in the social care sector.

Find out more about the Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care.

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