In the driving seat

Caremark Redcar and Cleveland is putting itself in the driving seat as part of its campaign to encourage more people to become carers.

The company has invested over £100,000 in a fleet of vehicles for its staff.

This includes small cars which make getting around the area easier, as well as a wheelchair-accessible vehicle and a 4 x 4 for use in bad weather. The company also has a dog van in readiness for the restart of a service which had to be postponed due to the pandemic and which will offer animal therapy for customers.

Caremark, which is the largest provider of home care services in Redcar and Cleveland, is seeking to create dozens of new jobs but its growth has been hampered by the recruitment crisis affecting the whole sector, as well as factors such as the rising cost of living.

Caremark (Redcar and Cleveland) Managing Director Michelle Jackson has been vocal in the media about the need for better pay for carers and received a boost recently when she was able to let her 350-plus carers know their pay was going up to the new national living wage of £9.50 per hour.

Whilst she is continuing to make the case to local and central government for more pay, in the meantime, Michelle has been focusing on other areas which she hopes will help attract people into care, with the new vehicles a key part of this.

She explains: “We have so many carers join us who are drivers but may not have a car so we offer them one of the Caremark cars until they can afford one

“We also have carers whose cars break down or need something like an MOT, so we loan them one so they can continue working.

“Then we provide cars to staff who work at night who we want to keep safe, so the vehicles serve various purposes.

“Ultimately, whilst we understand carers are not currently paid what they are worth until we can resolve this with local and central government, we are focusing on the other benefits which may attract people into working at homecare with us.

“The vehicles play an important part in this but there’s also other things like the ability to work flexibly so people can have the right work/life balance, paying staff mileage and extra for travelling to customers’ homes, staff referral bonuses, end of year care awards, and ongoing personal development.

“There are very few jobs which give as much personal satisfaction as home care, after all what can be better than providing the support that enable people to remain living as independently as possible in their own homes?”