New Just Ask’s new initiative could help change the landscape of home care

Just Ask Care and Support has introduced an exciting new initiative that will financially benefit its team of support workers as well as providing free companionship visits for their vulnerable and lonely service users. 

It is widely recognised that the care sector is currently in crisis and one of its biggest problems is staff retention, largely because many employees feel undervalued and are not paid proportionally to the responsibilities that they have. However, we have introduced an exciting new initiative that we hope will have a positive effect on the care sector.

Managing Director, Steve Hulbert, explains what Just Ask’s new initiative is and why he introduced it. “I passionately believe that support workers should be respected, valued, and rewarded for their immense contribution to front-line care support. believe that the introduction of this type of scheme throughout Yorkshire and ultimately across the UK could massively improve the morale of the thousands of domiciliary care support workers and help reverse what has been a downward negative trend for many years. My staff were very excited about changing to a salary because it gives them financial stability and helps with budgeting their finances. Combine this with the unquestionably positive effect that our free companionship visits have had on our service users and it makes a strong case for this simple scheme being the future norm for domiciliary care”. Steve is keen to add, "We have always valued our staff and support them in every way we can because without their commitment, enthusiasm, and dedication to their role, our business would simply be ‘very ordinary’. I am very proud of my staff and I am frequently told by our service users and their family members that they really do see the benefits that our motivated care team deliver compared to other companies that they have used”. Steve continues; “Our new initiative is basically in two parts. The first element addresses the issue of how carers are paid, and the second element will help reduce social isolation for the service users that we support”.

This is how it works:

1.     Just Ask now pay their care support workers on a salaried basis This is a huge benefit for them as it guarantees a regular income and stability, rather than a changeable wage principally caused by cancellation of services. Their support workers also have the opportunity to earn more than their salaried figure by picking-up extra hours if they want to.

Having staff that are salaried is different to many other home care providers who only pay their staff for the hours spent with clients. Sadly, the time spent travelling between Service Users is often paid at a minimal rate, or in some cases, not paid at all. 

Should a service user cancel a visit, Just Ask’s care team are still paid for the time where a gap appears in their rota. However, this time won’t be wasted as it allows for the most exciting element of the new initiative to take place:

2.     The second element means that should there be a cancellation and, consequently, a gap appears in the support worker’s rota; Just Ask will schedule a companionship visit for the support worker to spend time with one of the company’s vulnerable/lonely service users.

The support worker will be paid for this time in their salary, but the person that they visit will not be charged.

Steve adds a little more detail about the affordability of this initiative. “I introduced this scheme after performing a detailed analysis of our current finances and whether its introduction would be affordable and sustainable. Just Ask is a community interest company and, therefore, our finances are of interest to the local community and any profits that we make from trading are reinvested into initiatives that benefit it. We are totally sustainable and without the need for any loans or grants; this has been the case since the business changed to a community interest company in 2014”. 

He goes on to add how the new scheme has been received. “The support for our new initiative from our ‘self-funding’ service users and family members has been overwhelmingly positive, with many saying that the minimal cost incurred by a cancellation fee, is massively outweighed by the benefit of having unexpected companionship visits for their loved ones”. Steve goes on to explain that these visits offer another benefit as well; “Our support workers have been hugely lifted by the positive effects that their companionship visits have on the service users they visit. Many have commented that seeing the smiles on a service user’s face and how their spirits were lifted has made their job even more enjoyable and worthwhile”.

Steve continues; “I hope that by leading the way and introducing this revolutionary scheme, we will do our bit in encouraging significant changes to the landscape of home care for both support workers and service users".