A care company in Oldham which treats its clients 'like family' is in line to receive a major innovation honour - and meet celebrity Rylan Clark.

Visiting Angels Manchester East, which was established in October 2022, delivers a dedicated service to people with care needs including disabilities, dementia and terminal illness across Oldham, Rochdale, Saddleworth and Tameside.

While it has 17 "very happy" members of staff, the company prides itself on client-centred care which includes allowing customers to interview and 'vet' their own carer.

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The company says this has proved vital for people from diverse communities who may feel ashamed that they need looking after.

The company also has a 'carer-centric approach' to its staff with employees at the company being the only ones in the sector to receive an annual pay rise, a free regular car service and a career path planned out for them.

These initiatives have landed the company a place at the Great British Care Awards for the Innovation award, held at Birmingham International Conference Centre on Friday, March 22, plus a date with famous broadcaster and presenter, Rylan Clark.

Managing director, Roxie Taj, said: "Our ambition for the franchise is to be the care employer of choice by 2030, one which everyone wants to work for.

“These two things go together.

"It is all about building a relationship with your client and that can only be achieved with time and familiarity.

"Just as Asian people have uncles and aunties in their community who are not blood relatives, we want them to be like another member of the family – as far as professionalism will allow.”

The news come as the social care system in Britain is in the midst of crisis, before, during and after the pandemic, with more than 150,000 unfilled vacancies in the profession and where turnover rates for staff are almost twice the national average according to data by Skills for Care.

Fellow founder, Badar Usmani, added: “It is bizarre how while older people slow down in their lives, councils expect their carers to speed up.

"It often boils down to a care assessor looking at a client’s needs and believing carers are only there to give out medication and check things are okay.

"They think that can be as little as 15 minutes work but sometimes it can take 15 to just get the person 'with' it.

“Furthermore, 'companionship' doesn’t exist in the council’s dictionary.

"High volume care is commissioned to cheaper providers who then offload onto carers with back-to-back client calls and minimum wage.

"Carers are given little, or no travel time and mileage is not paid.

"So, a carer could be out for six hours but only paid for four working hours.

"Consequently, good carers are forced to adopt bad habits resulting in the public perception of care as bad overall."

He continued: "It should be about establishing trust, confidence, and relationships, not who can finish first.

"Visiting Angels deliver a minimum one-hour visit and place a greater value on the benefit of companionship.

"Visiting Angels will collaborate with local councils if they raise their standards to ours, which means providing the resource to help us pay higher wages and improve our retention.”

Badar and Roxie hope the award will help them continue with their Carer-Centric approach to make caring and carers count as the team consider carers as “the original front-line workers before medical professionals.”

The Department of Health and Social Care and Oldham Council has been contacted for comment.

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