Care Home Staffing Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Lord Turnberg
Main Page: Lord Turnberg (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Turnberg's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Lord Markham (Con)
My noble friend is correct that the recruitment of personal carers is harder. I know that this is close to his heart. I can probably serve him best by giving him a written reply setting out the details of what we are doing.
Lord Turnberg (Lab)
My Lords, to make this an attractive job for a care worker, we have to not only give them a pay rise above the national living wage, which is their basic pay, but make this into a profession. If they are professionals, they will then have a career structure that is recognised nationally. Will the Minister encourage that development?
Lord Markham (Con)
Yes, I totally agree. That is why we announced this career pathway last week, to try to do exactly what the noble Lord is talking about. It has been welcomed; I quoted from ADASS, but a number of other bodies have welcomed what we are trying to do. We aim to do what the noble Lord said: to make it a profession that people really want to join. There are qualifications for it, advancement and apprenticeships, which are all part of setting up a career structure.