Care home in West Norfolk fearful of recruitment crisis
A West Norfolk MP is arranging a meeting in the House of Commons to discuss the county’s care services.
North West Norfolk MP Sir Henry Bellingham visited Docking House Care Home on Friday to listen to issues within the care home sector.
Managing director of Armscare, which owns Docking House Care Home, Raj Sehgal said: “Sir Henry came to our meeting to listen to problems we are facing within the care home sector. One of our main difficulties is recruiting new, qualified members of staff.”
In Mr Sehgal’s presentation, which was made to Sir Henry and National Care Association’s executive chairman Nadra Ahmed, among others, he outlined issues in attracting school leavers into the profession.
He said attracting young people into a demanding profession, which pays minimum wage, is a challenge.
“When you leave education, why would you want to work in a demanding profession within the care home sector for minimum wage when you could be working in a supermarket for more money and with less responsibilities,” said Mr Sehgal.
“There is a great deal of responsibility working in the care sector because when you are giving medication you need to be sure you are giving everything out correctly otherwise people’s health is at risk.”
Mr Sehgal explained how recruitment is a nationwide issue and can result in care homes closing down due to a lack of staffing.
He added: “There is a nation-wide shortfall of nursing staff. It can be difficult to find someone who is willing to work this demanding job, but also someone who has passion to do so.
“They are closing not because they are unsuccessful, but because they don’t have the staffing power to keep them going.
“We need to give people more of an incentive to work in the care profession, and this is what will be discussed by Sir Henry in the House of Commons.”
