17:20 Wednesday 7th May 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire
[C]HRIS MANN: There could be new efforts to ensure care workers can speak English before placing them in vulnerable people’s homes: the view of Dr Shereen Hussein, Scientific Adviser to the Department of Health, who says poor language skills can lead to bad care and abuse. Let’s get a professional view on that. Joining me now is Alan Lewin. Hello Alan.
ALAN LEWIN: Good evening Chris.
CHRIS MANN: Director of Axiom Crossroads Care in Cambridgeshire. Just tell us a little bit about what you do, your company does.
ALAN LEWIN: OK. We’re based in Peterborough, but we provide what’s called domiciliary care, and we provide care within extra care housing throughout Cambridgeshire. Domiciliary care is when we provide care to people within their homes. And as I say we also have staff in our extra care schemes throughout the county.
CHRIS MANN: How many people do you look after most weeks?
ALAN LEWIN: We look after about 80 people, something like that.
CHRIS MANN: And how many staff do you have?
ALAN LEWIN: We have about 50 care workers.
CHRIS MANN: OK. And is English language comprehension a big issue for you?
Continue reading “Language Skills Recruitment and the Care Industry”