Community Integrated Care, one of the member organisations of leading care sector association the National Care Forum [NCF], has launched a new innovative programme to support social care workers, service users and family carers with rising energy costs.
The ‘Taking Charge’ initiative offers free interactive webinars and accessible resources, specially tailored to the home-life and working routines of people who work in social care, and the people they support. It brings together expert insight and advice from leading energy organisations, influenced by the people it is meant to support.
The cost-of-living crisis has left many social care workers and families left struggling to make ends meet amid rising prices, while many disabled people are paying in excess of double the energy bill of the average consumer. This initiative offers critical support and guidance to help reduce energy bills and save hundreds of pounds per user.
Importantly, the resource is completely free to access and open for anyone to use.
The NCF has been vocal about the pressures of rising energy costs, their impact on the care industry, and the ongoing workforce shortages in the field for many months now.
Professor Vic Rayner OBE, CEO of NCF commented: “The eye watering increases in energy costs is a very serious concern among our members, even after the government capped prices through the Energy Bill Relief and Energy Price Guarantee Schemes.
“For social care workers, the steep rises in the cost of living and energy costs alongside the continued reluctance of government to guarantee the funding for better pay, terms and conditions, means that the next few months will be very hard. The lives and wellbeing of the people who access care and support services are also significantly impacted, and many are not enjoying the same support the government is giving to other households.
“It’s encouraging to see such an innovative, co-produced, support programme from Community Integrated Care. This will provide much needed practical support to people accessing care services and care workers.
“However, this can’t be the responsibility of providers alone, we also need more action from government. We are calling for a guarantee that adult social care providers are defined as a vulnerable sector as part of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme following April 2023; a guarantee that those people accessing adult social care support will be able to access the Energy Price Guarantee following April 2023; and additional, immediate support for providers to reduce the pressures facing social care workers and meet other operational costs due to rising cost of living and inflation.”
Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash
