App launched for social care workers

Staff working during the coronavirus pandemic now have a dedicated App that will offer support to the adult social care staff in England.

Discounts, learning resources and health guidance are a few of the services care workers will have access to through the new App. Mental health support as well as toolkits and resources for wellbeing are also available for the 1.5 million care workers across the country.

Because of the sheer volume of staff across more than 18,000 providers, it is very difficult to communicate clearly with all the staff working during the pandemic. An App called the Care Workforce app was developed by the NHSX and the NHS Business Services Authority and will provide a single digital hub with all relevant information in one place for all social care workers.

The app falls under the CARE brand and was created in response to the need experienced by the sector for a uniform platform where information can be shared accurately across the whole country. The app can be downloaded on Android or Apple and can be viewed on any browser on any device.

Mental health is extremely important for social care workers, so a new mental and physical wellbeing guide will be published soon to offer much-needed to support. The Care Workforce app is the first of its kind and will be able to offer the following:

• Act as a single platform to provide guidance and wellbeing support for the sector and offer advice on how to keep  themselves and friends and family safe from COVID-19
• Inform care workers of various advantages made available by the NHS like free parking, discounts and the Blue Light Card
• Provide learning resources on various topics like infection control and offer practical advice on subjects like mental well being

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

“Our incredible social care workforce are on the frontline day and night providing quality care to the most vulnerable in our society during the most unprecedented time in our history. The whole country is incredibly grateful of the work they continue to do for our loved ones.

“As part of our continued work to back the care sector, we have launched a new app specifically for care workers to make sure they have the most up-to-date guidance to keep them safe, connected with their colleagues across the country, which also allows them to access discounts like their NHS counterparts.

“It’s available to download right now, and I would urge everyone in social care to do so.”

Helen Whately, Minister of State for Care, commented:

“The care sector is a vital part of our health and care frontline and this pandemic has shone a light on the skills, commitment and dedication of our care workers.

“The Care Workforce app is there to help those frontline care workers ‒ from providing the latest news and guidance, to sharing stories to draw inspiration from in challenging times, and as a way of connecting colleagues from Cornwall to Carlisle. I hope it will help unite people working in care across the country.

“The care workforce have long asked for a single, unifying brand to connect them to each other and I am delighted that we are able today to launch this important new tool under the CARE umbrella.”

The App will also act like a networking platform in the future, to unite the social care workforce where learnings can be shared as well as advice and inspiring stories from across the sector.

Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive, Care England, said:

“This new app will help to keep the social care workforce fully informed of all the issues in social care, and it will provide an easily accessible and portable resource for every care worker”

Kathryn Smith, Chief Executive at the Social Care Institute for Excellence, said:

“It’s more than welcome to see an app like this that’s specifically designed with the adult social care workforce in mind.

“That workforce has many challenges at the moment, including how to keep services running during the COVID-19 situation; but also how to ensure that issues such as safeguarding, mental capacity and rights under the Care Act are not lost. We’ve all been using technology a lot more in the last few weeks and I’m sure that this will be a really useful addition to help the workforce to provide the best care and support that they can during the current crisis.”

Vic Rayner, Executive Director, National Care Forum, said:

“Care Workforce is a welcome addition to the frontline. It brings together all the important guidance and information for staff into one place – making sure the workforce have at their fingertips the information they need to deliver great care.”

Alex Fox, OBE FRSA, Chief Executive, Shared Lives Plus, said:

“It has never been more important for everyone working in social care to be connected with each other and well informed about the latest changes in policy. The app will help all of us with this. Shared Lives Plus is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care through the pandemic and we encourage everyone working in Shared Lives to sign up.”

Skills for Care CEO Oonagh Smyth said:

“Technology has proved to be incredibly valuable in keeping our workforce informed during this crisis and this new app specifically aimed at the social care workforce will help workers get easy access to the information they need, when they need it.”

“Hard-pressed care workers now have an app that offers them access to useful resources on the move. They can get details on offers they can take up from companies recognising the great work that they are doing and information on how they can support their wellbeing during these very challenging times.”

Article Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dedicated-app-for-social-care-workers-launched