Award-winning care boss wants to 'change perceptions' and ensure 'highly skilled' staff get the respect they deserve

Care staff are 'highly-skilled' and we shouldn't take them for granted, says Angus McLellan, one of the directors of Bluebird Care in North Tyneside, Sunderland and North Northumberland.

A home care boss is determined to "change the face" of social care and make sure people realise how working in the sector requires huge skill.

Angus McLellan is, with wife Julie, one of the directors of three Bluebird Care franchises - in North Tyneside, in North Northumberland, and now in Sunderland. Speaking to ChronicleLive, he said he was passionate about transforming how people think about social care.

He said: "We have been operating for 12 years in North Tyneside now, about five years in North Northumberland. We have been seeing huge demand for services - and that demand is growing, I have to say.

Angus, a former NHS manager, said: "The move into Sunderland came about as the previous franchise owner had to move on for personal reasons and we knew the area really well, and knew that the people of Sunderland both require and deserve a great service."

Angus explained that while the rural nature of north Northumberland provided a particular challenge, this had inspired the progress of the firm's "live-in" care service, which he said had proved popular in the most rural areas and provided a real alternative to residential care.

Angus said that whereas across the sector there have been wider staffing issues, this was not something he had experienced at Bluebird, though the firm's team were scrupulous to make sure that the right people were becoming carers.

He said: "We are able to recruit really well, we get an awful lot of applications. The issue is actually getting the right staff - our selection process is very much giving people the reality about what a skilled job working in care is. We need the best staff and we pride ourselves on delivering a premium service. We need to break the mould that you might see at other care services."

The director - whose firm won an award as the nation's best Bluebird Care franchise in 2022-2023 - added that providing top-quality training, recognition for staff's expertise, and helping them to grow their skills was vital. He said: "We know our staff are our shop-front and we want to make sure they are valued in our business. There is a perception - a wrong one - that working in care is low-skilled. We want to change that and change the face of care.

"Delivering personal care to someone is an incredibly intimate thing to do and requires a huge amount of respect - it's essential to protect the dignity of a customer. Ensuring that staff are aware of the skill that requires is massive.

"All of us will likely someday be consumers of social care and we really need to make sure that it becomes better than what is often out there. 'm so passionate about ensuring that social care is presented in the most positive light it can be. We need to chase bad practice out."

- By Sam Volpe (ChronicleLive)