The challenges affecting the homecare market of the UK
The homecare market in the UK is booming year after year as the demand for care at home increases and more and more people prefer it. According to homecare.co.uk's records, in 2020, nearly 8,14,000 individuals will use the care at home service, a number that is predicted to increase significantly.
The Department of Health and Social Care forecasts that 57% more individuals aged 65 and older in England will need homecare in 2038 than in 2018.
As the demand increases, so does the pressure on care providers like Nurses Group Homecare in the UK to arrange skilled care assistants to provide quality care to individuals at their homes. Even though the market for homecare is expanding, there are still numerous obstacles that carers and clients must overcome.
In this article, we will be looking into the various challenges faced by each party involved in the homecare service in the UK.
Challenges affecting homecare providers:
There are various challenges affecting the care provider or care agencies like Nurses Group Homecare in the UK. They are as follows:
1. Staff retention:
Retention of staff is one of the greatest obstacles facing homecare service providers in the UK. As the demand for homecare services rises, so does the need for carers. With limited budgets, however, many local governments and care providers lack sufficient care workers to meet demand.
Many workers are leaving the care industry due to long hours, overtime due to staff shortages, burnout, and financial reasons. With low pay rates, a lack of pay rises, and a living cost crisis in the UK, carers look for alternative jobs to meet their needs. Furthermore, the competition to maintain staff is so high that care providers and local authorities find it difficult to source staff.
2. High employee turnover:
A lot of care providers in the UK are facing high employee turnover rates due to a lack of staff retention strategies. This leads to care providers constantly needing to recruit new staff and train them, which is costly and time-consuming.
This also means that clients won't be able to build a rapport with their care worker, leading to them losing trust in the system, getting frustrated, and ultimately having worse outcomes as a result of not receiving the person-centred care that meets their needs most effectively.
3. Care coordination:
Coordinating care for clients who require multiple services can be complicated. Homecare providers usually need to coordinate with other healthcare professionals, community organisations, and families to ensure that clients are getting the proper care.
Without following a co-production approach and having effective communication between different organisations, care providers are at risk of delivering low-quality care that doesn't match clients needs.
4. Safety and security:
The safety and security of both the carer and the care recipient must be considered when commissioning homecare services. Homecare providers usually face these issues, especially when meeting new clients. Thus, it becomes important to make assessments to ensure that care workers are completely ready to deliver care and that the individual feels safe under their care.
5. Compliance:
Another challenge affecting homecare providers in the UK is the set of regulations that need to be followed to stay in compliance and ensure that all workers are aware of the regulations. The regulations might change based on the jurisdiction in which they are providing homecare services. Thus, it becomes imperative that all ongoing staff keep up-to-date with education, training, and all administrative processes. As care workers and assistants are always busy, they might lag behind, which leads to unawareness about the changes that affect the quality of care.
Challenges affecting care workers at homecare
There are numerous challenges affecting care workers and assistants; these include:
1. Heavy workload:
Homecare workers are often assigned multiple cases in a limited time frame, resulting in staff burnout. Due to the high demand for homecare within a short span of time, they often have less time to get from one client to another. In the event that they end up being with a client longer due to emergencies, it can delay other visits, leading to a higher risk of missed medications. Thus, for homecare workers, managing such a tight schedule can be physically and mentally demanding, leading to fatigue, staff burnout, and, in some cases, carers leaving the profession.
2. Safety risks:
Providing homecare can be physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausting, even more so if they don't have the correct equipment in the home. This can make tasks longer and also increase the risk of injury for both homecare workers and individuals. There are also additional safety risks for carers, such as unsanitary conditions and potentially violent or erratic behaviour from clients or other family members. Ensuring personal safety, therefore, is a major concern for homecare workers.
3. Limited training and support:
Due to high demand, some carers might not be able to maintain their training if regulations change in the UK. In addition, they may receive limited training and support in general, particularly when handling complex medical conditions or emergencies. Without sufficient quality of care, care recipients suffer, leading to an increase in stress for homecare workers as well as the risk of staff burnout.
Challenges affecting care recipients:
Even those receiving care at home face numerous obstacles, such as:
1. Limited resources:
Limited budgets result in individuals receiving limited resources, which affects the quality of homecare in comparison to other alternatives like care homes or hospitals. Due to the high demand for homecare in the UK, individuals can also be left waiting for a long time to receive the required homecare service. This can also lead to patients who are already in the hospital experiencing delayed discharge until their care can be arranged. This, therefore, contributes to making discharge delays even longer, so new patients are left waiting longer for hospital beds.
2. Carer burden:
As arranging homecare from a care agency takes time, informal carers or family members will have to take care of the individual in the meantime. The responsibility of round-the-clock care, managing medications, and performing medical procedures when needed can be overwhelming, leading to carer stress and burnout.
3. Safety risk:
The safety risk for patients is one of the main challenges faced by the homecare market in the UK. Some home environments may have physical hazards such as fall risk or accessibility, so modification of their homes may be needed to improve the conditions, which again takes more time to receive care.
4. Difficulty in Home monitoring:
This is another key challenge in home care, where monitoring the conditions can be difficult. For example, if family members and loved ones live far away from an individual, it becomes difficult to monitor their health condition in between care visits. In the event of an emergency, a quick response would be required, and a delay can increase the risk of further decline in health.
Regular monitoring and recognising early warning signs are essential to keeping individuals safe in their own homes. Often, specialised equipment is required, which can take time to deliver and set up in someone's home. Furthermore, it can be expensive and may lead to individuals having to pay for the equipment instead of their local council.
5. Social isolation:
Individuals receiving homecare often feel social isolation due to limited interaction with others, leading to a decline in mental health and well-being. The lack of social support also affects the care workers' mental health, as they may have limited opportunities for respite care or support from others.
Even with such challenges affecting the homecare market in the UK, it is said to be thriving and is expected to be the future of care. Nurses Group Homecare in Yeovil is a fast-growing care agency in the UK, and if you are looking for reliable carers to provide care and support to you or your loved one, contact us.