Publish date: 13 January 2022
Jobs boost as Northumbria Healthcare confirms intention to provide care services
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has confirmed that it intends to directly provide home care services in North Tyneside and Northumberland, creating up to 250 jobs in the process.
The Trust, which has been rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission twice since 2015, already provides hospital and community services in the area, but is now establishing additional home care provision.
At a time when understanding about the need for seamless integration of health and care services has never been higher, Northumbria Healthcare has outlined its proposal to provide domiciliary services while also considering the development of care homes, based on its established patient-focused approach to high-quality care.
This pioneering and important step will continue the Trust’s record of successful partnership working and will see it working with existing care providers to ensure that the system works as well as it can for communities in the area.
Once fully established, the service could employ up to 250 people and a recruitment process has just started for the first wave of 25 staff, including a manager to oversee the delivery of home care services.
Northumbria Healthcare’s chief executive, Sir James Mackey, said: “Our colleagues in the care sector have worked as hard as our teams in the NHS during a period of unprecedented pressure through the Covid-19 pandemic, and we thank them for their efforts.
“However, we know that there is unmet demand in our communities, which is unsurprising given the growing need nationally for more social care provision. Therefore, an opportunity has arisen for us to use our expertise to help support the care sector in Northumberland and North Tyneside.
“Having effective social care services is vital to the entire health system, because to allow the region’s hospitals to cope with the demand from new patients coming in, we need to be able to move on those patients who no longer need hospital care in order to free up beds.
“Through our new service, we can boost the system by adding further provision, ensuring that more people in need of home care can be allocated the support they need through the usual processes. As always, our focus will be on quality and making sure that these services are completely tailored to the needs of the people who use them, and also being first-class services to work in.”
The new roles, which are now being advertised, are a unique chance for people to develop their careers, at a time when the Trust is moving ahead with its ambition for the Northumbria Health and Care Academy, a training centre of excellence, which received planning permission before Christmas.
The jobs come with full NHS terms and conditions of service (Agenda for Change), provide access to NHS discounts, and offer the chance of a career pathway.
Sir James added: “This exciting development supports Our Community Promise – our commitment to do even more to support our population – as it will create new jobs, support education and training for carers, and open up further employment opportunities, for example, apprenticeships.
“The first posts that are now on offer are your chance to join us on our journey as we become part of a crucial system and provide the high-quality care that the people of Northumberland and North Tyneside deserve.”
Skills for Care, the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England, published its ‘State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England’ report for 2021 in October.
It notes short-term challenges in relation to many vacancies and high turnover, alongside long-term challenges with an ageing workforce who are likely to retire quite soon and not enough younger staff coming into the sector, combined with a growing need for more social care because of our growing and ageing population.
The Trust expects to have its home care offer up and running in the first three months of 2022, which could be followed by care home provision later in the year.
Media contact
Ben O’Connell, media and communications officer
Benjamin.O’Connell@northumbria-healthcare.nhs.uk or 07833 046680.