Regular News - 13 May 2024
Written by Lucy Nichol - Edited by CACHE Alumni
Sector news update
Hello and welcome to our new fortnightly news update. This week we have lots of news and views on digital and tech developments, a look at what is being done to protect employees from being exploited in the care sector, and a look at how one council is planning to provide more support to care experienced young people.
General social care news
The Government has launched a £16m fund to tackle the exploitation of overseas adult social care staff, something we’ve covered previously in our sector news round up. Examples of poor practice include excessive immigration fees and tying jobs to accommodation.
⇨ Read the full article here
Meanwhile, Crimestoppers ‘London Hidden Harms’ campaign is shining a light on modern slavery and is particularly focusing on the increase in labour exploitation in the social care industry.
⇨ Read the full story here
Angela Rayner’s social care plan could lump taxpayers with a huge bill according to the Daily Express.
⇨ Read the full story here
English councils have been invited to sign up to a scheme to highlight and tackle racial inequalities in their social care workforces.
⇨ Read the full article here
Over in Shropshire, the local authority has launched a new online financial assessment calculator to help people work out how much they have to pay towards their care and support.
⇨ Read more here
Children’s Care
Community Care Inform has created a guide to help people understand what the government’s children’s social care reforms mean for them.
⇨ Read more here
Digital developments
NHS leaders could save the healthcare system £1 billion a year by autumn 2026 if they were to adopt a new AI-led model of home healthcare from Cera, according to a study.
⇨ Read the full story here
You can learn more about the power of tech in this podcast interview with Matthew Davies, founder and CEO of The Social Work Way mobile app.
⇨ Find out more here
Autumna has announced the launch of the country’s first real-time scoring system that will radically transform the way both care seekers access care, and how providers market their services.
⇨ Read more here
The Social Care Online Library has closed after almost 20 years of providing access to information on the sector via searchable abstracts following a significant decline in usage.
⇨ Read more here
Recruitment and Retention
Zoe Fry OBE – executive director with The Outstanding Society – has discussed how the perception of social care is the sector’s biggest challenge as it seeks to overcome issues around recruitment and retention.
⇨ Read the full story here
Over in Scotland, social care workers are struggling to survive due to low wages, visa changes and a lack of clarity. This article features an interview and day in the life with one professional who says she starts her day at 7am and works until 10pm with just a two hour break in between.
⇨ Read more here
And finally….
This is an interesting development over in Newham, where the Council has agreed to recognise care experience as a protective characteristic, to ensure more support is given to some of its most vulnerable young people.
⇨ Read more here
We’ll be back in touch in a fortnight with more updates, news and views.
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