Report: UK Care Week 2023
Last week UK Care Week took place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham and to say it was the most successful run yet would be an understatement.
First launched in July 2022, the event unites charity workers, policymakers, and care professionals together to trade ideas and inform on how organisations and authorities can improve the care of those who need it the most, especially during this unprecedented time.
The doors to the event opened at 9:30am where individuals were knighted with their lanyard and name badge before being released onto the exhibition floor. All happening in one room, the floor was littered with a vast number of stands, stages and a few places to grab a bite to eat.
Debbie Harris, Managing Director at Autumna, the UK’s largest elderly care directory, was the first speaker to take to the keynote stage. Debbie talked about the best ways of marketing care homes and brought up that since the Covid-19 pandemic 80% of care homes have switched to advertising digitally. Following this, she noted that two and a half million people use her website, suggesting more care home’s need to adopt this approach.
Next, three care professionals took to the stage to inform how we can drive a positive change within the future of care. Jayne Connery, Founder of the care campaign For the Vulnerable, Nadra Ahmed, Executive Chair of the National Care Association and Oli Johnson, Co-Founder of Sona, engaged in a panelled discussion led by Jon Wilks, Chief Executive at the Institute of Health & Social Care Management. It was particularly interesting to learn that these individuals believe that the training carers undertake should be brought to more people’s attention. Oli went on to reveal the shocking statistic that 35% of workers in the sector do not feel that their training or skills are appreciated.
Following this, Nadra claimed that social care is one of the lowest paid sectors, which forces staff to look for jobs elsewhere – especially at a time when prices have hit record highs. She said, frustration in her voice, that carers ‘do far more’ than people realise but are still paid less than people who work at McDonald’s.
After the discussion, a lunch break hit giving speakers a chance to chat to exhibitioners, who had set up around the keynote stage. The break also welcomed the Dementia Choir, which was established in 2018, to the stage, which brought a warming and powerful atmosphere.
Majorly dominated by technology exhibitions, some of the companies who took part in UK Care Week 2023 included, Birdie, Florence, Cera Care, Digital Social Care, Esri UK and One Touch. The event was also sponsored by Sona, an award-winning frontline operating system for social care workforces.
Whilst speaking with Aimen Chouchane, Head of Content at Sona, he claimed that the digital sector within social care is ‘massive’ and will only continue expanding. Prompted by the pandemic to adopt a digital approach, Aimen claimed that by using smart technology care staff are able to clearly understand the notes their co-workers have left for them on a previous shift, the medical records and wellbeing of patients who have been discharged from hospital and easily access their shifts.
Back at the keynote stage, Jon Wilks was joined by three new care professionals including Jasmeet Rai, Associate Director at RCH Care Homes, Joan Bothma, Registered branch Manager at Cera Care and Palvi Dodhia, Co-Founder and Director of Serene Care. Together they launched the report ‘A People Plan for Social Care – A Call to Action’, which can be accessed in full here. The document is designed to outline all of the problem areas within the sector and suggest ways in which they can be combatted.
After this, Kate Terroni, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at Care Quality Commission (CQC), delivered an update from the UK’s leading regulator for health and social care. The biggest takeaways from her talk were how the authority is planning to change the way care homes are inspected through a new scoring system and the new roles that have been created within CQC.
Talk about saving the best until last, it was certainly refreshing to have the day rounded off by Chand Kaur, Director of No1 Healthcare and CEO of PCOS Relief and Mark Topps, Director and Co-Founder of The Caring View. Their podcast-like discussion focused on the two-part question ‘is it true that any publicity is good publicity? Does social care do itself an injustice?’ While obviously covering some serious issues, the pair landed on the conclusion that social care would be more positively thought about if the media broadcast the sectors achievements as well as it’s downfalls.
Sadly, the second round of UK Care Week has now come to an end, but the dates have already been confirmed for 20-21st March 2024 and pre-registration has already opened.
Images: Emily Whitehouse