Sudbury & Long Melford Community News, August 2022

Caring Homes Group delighted to welcome 100th overseas Health Care Support Worker

Caring Homes Group has welcomed their 100th overseas Health Care Social Worker (HCSW) with open arms as they settle into their new role at a Sudbury, Suffolk care home.

Mwarianesu Taderera, originally from Zimbabwe, was met and welcomed at Mellish Care Home by Catherine Martin, Head of Recruitment and Katie McGovern, International Recruitment Lead with their new manager Maekhala Allan.

In a bid to tackle the ongoing recruitment challenges across the health and social care sector, Caring Homes Group undertook an innovative approach to recruitment to ensure their homes across the UK and Scotland continued to deliver high-quality care to residents.Creating a new and dedicated healthcare support worker (HSW) position, senior to a care assistant, the role will support care homes by fulfilling several clinical duties and providing vital support to nursing teams.

Marking the 100th HCSW recruited by Caring Homes, Mellish Care Home, a residential elderly dementia care home, welcomed their brand new HCSW with treats and smiles all around from both staff and residents.

Speaking on their new role, Mwarianesu Taderera, said: “It means a lot to me leaving my children miles back in Zimbabwe but I want my efforts and contributions to add value to the Caring Homes with the help of my fellow workers. “Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. Many thanks to the Caring Homes Support Office team and Hillside and Mellish teams for the warm and loving 100th welcome. I feel very privileged and grateful to be given this opportunity to join Caring Homes.” One of the biggest challenges for overseas colleagues is homesickness. In a bid to help individuals settle in, Caring Homes ensure that the new roles receive a new mobile phone, and a sim card with pre-loaded credit so they can contact their friends and family back home.

Speaking about the day, Catherine Martin, said: “This initiative is not just about changing the lives of our residents but also changing our new carers’ lives too. Some of the HCSWs have left their families behind to create a new life for themselves in the UK and Mwarianesu is no exception. Alongside our residents, the well-being of our teams is the utmost priority here at Caring Homes. Today has been such a joyous occasion and we are looking forward to continuing to welcome Mwarianesu into the Caring Homes family.”

Since Brexit, and due to sponsorship requirements, organisations have been unable to recruit care assistants from outside of the UK.

On December 2, Caring Homes Group applied to the home office for their first Certificate of Sponsorship and once granted, the recruitment team scoped job profiles, person specifications and responsibilities to establish existing roles and which home teams needed HSWs the most.

For more information about Caring Homes or to look at the current vacancies, visit caringhomescareers.co.uk or contact the recruitment team by emailing recruitment@caringhomes.org or by calling 01206 224188.