Caring Homes Group has welcomed their 100th overseas Health Care Social Worker (HCSW) as they settle into their new role at a Sudbury, Suffolk care home.
Mwarianesu Taderera, originally from Zimbabwe, was welcomed to 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.
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.
