Employment in the Care Sector - Essay Example

Health and social services management and policy issues Health issues are one the paramount issues thatshould be addressed as it involves all aspects of life. Health is there fore a matter of National concern and health issues may cost the government a lot of money through promotion of good health practices, managing disease and treatment of diseases and also loss of production caused by poor health (Titmuss, 1951). Improvement of health therefore is very important, this is greatly influenced by aspects such as health facilities available, how they are managed, the quality of services offered, resources available, and policies to support health among others. If these aspects are improved then productivity would be greatly boosted (Carrin, 1999). Employment in the care sector It is evident that most are women and they work on a part time basis. The ratio of the workers to those who need the domiciliary services is unproportion.This calls for more input in the sector in order to improve its productivity. Another challenge where labour I s concern is technical qualifications of the workers, it was estimated that a large minority of all carers had no formal qualifications for the job; in the year 2001 29% of all women care workers and 19% of all men care workers were not qualified (Dean, 2006). The workers ration should be therefore improved to cater for its needs effectively>Training of those working should also be arranged and also organization should seek to employ competent and qualified labours.Men should be encouraged to venture in this field by citing of what it entails the benefits, experience that accompany it in order to improve (Robin, 2008). Policy Context Local authorities are responsible for the commissioning and purchasing of social care services in the country to add on to that they are involved in offering specialist services in this sector. The services should be offered more intensively to improve quality and cater the required needs. This is because it was estimated that 73% of care service is offered by independent care provider s during the year 1995 (Dean, 2006). Direct payments for these services should be arranged to workers and individualized care budgets should be formulated in order to improve close monitoring and rendering of this services.Indepedent sectors should also be empowered as they prove to be more efficient in service delivery (Titmuss, 1951). The government advocates for fair charging, the local authorities charges for services offered by domiciliary care services in order for them to be able to maintain and develop services to vulnerable people. The charging policy should be designed to comply with fairer charging guidance for them to provide reasonable charge framework to all users of the services .This will make the services affordable even to the low income earners who need the services (Dean, 2006). CSCI has come up with procedure for quality rating of home care which rates them as either good adequate or poor. This provides the people with knowledge of how registered services are performing against the set national standards. This sets out how to buy domiciliary services which is greatly influenced by independent and transparent rating system. These ratings should be adhered to in order to provide a means of evaluation to the home care services givers. Those who do not met the required standards and qualities should improve and if they are unable to give standard services then they should not be allowed to continue offering the services. Awareness is to be raised among the staff about the policy ensuring that it's applied consistently and transparently. The council should also bear duties to self-funders by confirming that Adult Social Care that the council has a policy for purchasing the domiciliary care or share but prior to a request that can be made. The policy should also be published on relevant mediums for effective communication of the policy (Robin, 2008). Job Design and Job Content Currently the home help image can be seen as outdated, the role is seen to be more professional, technical and intimate. The careers have to be able to understand the nature of the job and also develop a good relation between them and their clients. Active development can also be seen where the field is changing in a remarkable way when it comes to career routes and progression (Dean, 2006). Flexible working should therefore be provided for and choice of hours for working would help as an enticement to those who offer the services. Active and continuous training is also important to workers for them to improve their skills although implementation of this may face difficulties mostly attributed to management of the limited time available for working and also attending the training courses (Carrin, 1999). Working Conditions Most workers in the field may be seen to suffer from job loss from time to time, it s estimated 35% of organizations offering the services uses zero hours contact for their workers. This means that they have no job security or assurance to get a good predictable payment. Their work will therefore depend on assignment given to them at the disposal of the organization they work for (Titmuss, 1951). Another problem faced by the workers is catering for their travel costs, most of them are not entitled to their travel allowance irrespective of where they are required to offer their services. Travel allowances should be provided to improve service delivery and working conditions of these workers. It is also estimated only about 61 percent of the workers receive mileage allowances, this increases the expenses of the workers and at many times they are not able to met this travel demands thus abandoning work especially if a long distance is to be covered. The job is also characterized with underpayment or low payment to its workers. This makes many people to shy away from this kind of employment (Dean, 2006). These conditions should be addressed to provide a suitable workable framework plan that will motivate and improve the standards of those who offer the services. This can be done through improvement of job security through giving good contracts with minimal hours that one can take and be able to sustain him comfortably. Travel allowances should be availed to all with a good mileage allowance. Salaries to this workers should be reviewed and a better package arrangement be provided (Titmuss, 1951). Workforce Development Issues Training has been offered by organization to develop their skills and knowledge when offering their services however more than half of the people who have participated in these trainings with its availability and the quality of the training offered. The training should be availed readily to those willing to take part and also the trainers should be qualified. The training should also be able to cover topics of relevance to the field of this carers.More than half of the staff engaging in training has also reported problems in funding of the training programme. In many cases the trainees are supposed to pay for a part or the full training. Training should be sponsored in order to motivate them to participate and there by improve the quality of their services (Carrin, 1999). Many institutions also find it difficult to release their staff for training; this is because they are at most time needed to be at their workplaces. It has also been reported that most staff lack confidence needed for training apart from lacking the basic skills needed. Flexible time arrangements with individualized attention should be made to ensure effective training occurs. Basic skills should be given to workers before they can enroll for employment to ensure that they have a chance to advance their learning when they will be working (Robin, 2008). Employment challenges: providers' views Employers also have experienced challenges related to this work. For most employers it is difficult for them to cover the work load when the staffs are released for training. The training is usually carried out to a group of people meaning they will not at the time providing the services which are continuously needed. After the staffs have gone under training and complete their course it is in many cases difficult to retain them. This is because they move to get well paying jobs or claim for salary increment which in many times not within the budget of the employer. It is also becomes difficult for the employer s to pay their staff for time spent on job training. This means that many will not opt to go for training if they are not earning but rather go to work and make some money (Carrin, 1999). The cost of training for the employers is also seen as a hurdle and thus at times the staff will be required to cover for these expenses. This may at time be discouraging to those who needs the training and also earn some money to cater for their needs (Dean, 2006). Structural challenges Among the challenges involved in offering domiciliary services are structural, there are few health joints and social care institutions to adequately cover for the needs of the large number of people who need this care. Response is there fore not very effective when urgency comes into play. This becomes a challenge to those individuals who need the services on a continuous basis (Dean, 2006). Inappropriate admissions and delayed hospital discharge is another hurdle, this causes inconveniences in dealing with the large number of patients leading to piling up of work and uncordination in these places. These calls for improvement in management of facilities that offer domiciliary services to promote effecieny.The number of these facilities should be increased and current one upgraded in order to improve service delivery that will cater for the large number who requires them. Use of it and upgrade of system should also be availed to assist in faster delivery. Use of modern system and machine aid would also greatly improve efficiency and effectiveness (Titmuss, 1951). Parameters for evaluation of the services given is important, evaluation helps in monitoring of progress and also in identification of problems that may occur in the due course of offering domiciliary care. Building of consensus workshops may also be helpful in promoting of relations between the staff and the administration (Robin, 2008). Cultural challenges Cultural experiences, feelings and attitude reflection of people working in this field are very important. It tends to explain why one chooses to engage him or herself in this field and also in noting of such things for example the difference between home care and hospital care. Most interviewed workers identifies the difference in the role played when giving home care as opposed to hospital care.Commmunication, ,interaction and motivation are important in delivery of this care. This implies shaping of one s attitude towards achievement of these things between the patient and the carer (Dean, 2006). The relation of the family who takes care of the patient is also very important requiring specific skills and knowledge in order to promote a good relation and high quality of service. The epidemiology and story of home care can therefore be described according to the number of patients cared for, their respective problems but also their perceptions, feelings and believes are quit important.Carers should be able to familiarize themselves with this things in order for them to promote a good relationship and workable environment between them and their clients (Titmuss, 1951). Workers from different cultures may also find difficulties in giving home care. This comes when the carer cannot cope with the ideals of his patient or the family taking care of the patient. This calls for flexibility of cultural values especially on the side of the carer in order for him to cope with prevailing environment. Relation ship between of the workers and the management is also a key factor. When the staffs are not happy with their work then the results are not usually satisfactory. A good organization al culture should be emphasized for the staff to be motivated and fulfill the goals as defined by their employees. Their cooperation also acts as a boost to problem identification, and solving, it also provides a good ground for discussion on the best way to delivery of services and making improvements. When the relationship is good it is also easy for them to retain their workers and provides a good channel to air grievances and solving of problems that may arise (Dean, 2006). References Robin Means, Sally Richards and Randall Smith (2008) Community Care: Policy and Practice, Palgrave MacMillan. Carrin G.1; Ron A.; Hui Y.; Hong W.; Tuohong Z.; Licheng Z.; Shuo Z.; Yide Y.; Jiaying C.; Qicheng J.; Zhaoyang Z.; Jun Y.; Xuesheng L. (1999) The reform of the rural cooperative medical system in the People's Republic of China: interim experience in 14 pilot counties. Source: Social Science and Medicine, Volume 48, Number 7, April 1999, pp.961-972(12) Titmuss, R. M. (1951) Problems of social policy. HM Stationery Off. Dean, H. (2006). Social Policy. Cambridge: Polity Press. Read More