Championing social care with Care Home Open Week 2022 

This week, 1,500 care homes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be opening their doors to their community to showcase their facilities, activities and services, as well as their career and volunteering opportunities. Caring Times editor Anna Dobbie caught up with Mitesh Dhanak, chair of the organising committee of Championing Social Care at the launch of Care Home Open Week 2022 to talk about the value of social care and why the sector continues to receive negative coverage by the media.

The launch of Care Home Open Week 2022 at Hallmark’s Kew

AD: So, tell me more about Care Home Open Week.

MD: This is its second year. Care Home Open Week is an extension of Care Home Open Day, which used to be run pre-2020. If someone can’t make a specific day, they now have a whole week, and a lot of homes will do things at weekends so that different community groups, like schools, can be involved. We decided to take it on under the auspices of Championing Social Care in 2020. Of course, last year, we planned it, everything was supposed to be opening up in June. Then, at the last minute, restrictions came back so we did a lot of virtual events, quizzes, tours, and a few panel discussions. This is the first year, after two years, that we’re having nice, open events and 1,500 homes are participating. About 530 homes participated last year, so now we are up to pre-pandemic levels of participation.

AD: What is the aim of the week?

MD: It’s about shining a light on what goes on in care homes every day, showing the wonderful things that happen with both residents and how our team members interact. It’s about showcasing what goes on, so people who have never come across a care home have the opportunity to find out how they work and what happens inside them. What we really want to try and encourage is volunteering. This week, you can find out more about how you can befriend someone, go shopping, go to the cinema, do some gardening, drive for them and whatever – just enriching someone’s life and getting the satisfaction out of helping. The other thing we want to show is the range of careers available in this sector, which is struggling; we have 100,000 vacancies at the moment that need to be filled.

AD: What would you say to people considering a job in the sector?

MD: The best thing is, in social care, you don’t need any qualifications. You can start from scratch, and you learn on the job. You can become a manager in five to six years, and you can earn more than a bank manager or a teacher.

AD: But a carer needs to do a lot of extra training to progress to being a home manager, right?

MD: I think that we should have a proper structure that people can followto progress from carer to manager. We haven’t got that currently. Essentially, what tends to happen, the journey is about six to eight years. In our organization, people who apply themselves tend to get on the ladder and make it happen. The most important thing is you need to enjoy working with people.

AD: Who are you looking to attract?

MD: At the moment, the vast majority of care workers are white females in their mid-to-late 40s. That’s the main demographic. We want to try and attract more males – we want to try and diversify. There are lots of jobs in care homes, you can be maintenance personnel, a driver, or focus on the wellbeing side – there are lots of fields you can have careers in. We have examples of administrators that turn into bookkeepers and you can follow up on any accountancy qualifications to build upon that. 

Mitesh Dhanak, chair of the organising committee of Championing Social Care at the launch of Care Home Open Week 2022 – Photo by Alex Freeman Photography

AD: Why do you think social care needs championing? 

MD: The media generally likes to sensationalize something that’s not worked out. Unfortunately, that seems to attract more attention. The whole point of Championing Social Care is to change that narrative. We’re not in any way political, we’re not trying to do anything else. Our agenda is literally to shine the spotlight on the fantastic work that happens in social care and have more engagement with the general public, so they can make up their mind about what it is really like. It’s very important to note that social care forms a big part of the successful functioning of the NHS. Without social care, you can’t have a fully functioning or successful NHS.

AD: What do you think of the proposals to link up more with the NHS?

MD: It’s been talked about for years and years, and it’s kind of happening, but whether it would truly and genuinely happen with the budgets, I think I have to wait and see. I think a good example is the National Insurance Levy. In the first couple of years, all that money is going to be going to the NHS – even though it’s supposed to be going toward social care, it’s not quite getting there. Another reason why social care attracts more bad press is it’s predominantly private. The public has a view of a lovely National Health Service, which is not-for-profit; then there is this social care sector, which is predominantly private. When things go wrong in social care, it is also happening in the NHS, but they’re treated very differently in the press.

AD: What is your highlight of Care Home Open Week this year?

MD: I suppose it’s this first event today. I’ve been involved in this for the last two years and it is a great triumph. It’s a great time to have a live event.

To find out more about Care Home Open Week 2022 and how you can get involved, visit https://championingsocialcare.org.uk/care-home-open-day/

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