The population of the North-East is ageing and a lot more care workers are needed to look after the elderly and sick. Health Editor Barry Nelson looks at signs that the industry is rising to the challenge.

MAUREEN Horton has been in the care home business for 16 years and says finding staff has never been so difficult. "It's dire. We have a lot of new care homes opening in Darlington with hardly anybody to staff them," says Maureen, who runs the Eden Cottage care home in Darlington.

With the low unemployment rate and strong economy, it is proving difficult to attract people into what has traditionally been a low wage occupation.

"Recruiting new care staff is a tough job these days," says Maureen.

And, with the rapid "greying" of the population, the need for new care workers is getting more acute by the month.

This trend is even more pronounced here in the North-East, as many of our younger people head south in search of work.

"The time-bomb we are sitting on is beginning to go off," says Maureen.

"There are fewer people around who are of working age and more and more who need care, that is what is frightening. We have been talking about this for years but it's finally arrived."

The scale of the manpower crisis facing the North-East is clear to Mike Lauerman, a former director of social services for Cleveland and Hartlepool, now national director of the Looked After Children's Taskforce in London.

As chairman of the Government-funded agency Topss (the Training Organisation for the Personal Social Services), he is heading up a massive new drive to enlist a small army of care workers to plug the gaps in the ranks of businesses, charities and local authorities, which are facing a steep increase in demand.

Recently Topss announced a £689,000 scheme to give North-East care staff new opportunities to gain qualifications while working. It is the first of its kind in the country.

Another major step forward will be taken on February 10 when the four North-East Care Alliances, which represent around 1,700 employers, are holding the region's largest event of its kind, at the Oakwood Centre in Eaglescliffe,

The care sector hope this "big bang" event, which brings together employers and training bodies, will help to get things moving.

"We currently have about 45,000 basic care workers in the region. We reckon that over the next four years we need another 25,000. Clearly we are talking about a very big increase," says Mike.

"The background demographic trend means that we need more care workers - but it also means that many people already working in this field are coming up to retirement age and someone has got to replace them."

Because of his "day job" in the Department of Health, Mike has a particular interest in services to children, which are set to expand massively.

But he acknowledges that the demand from the adult sector, particularly elderly people, is the most problematic area of social care.

"People are living longer and hospitals are no longer geared up to providing long-term care," says Mike. "Because most older people choose to stay at home, we are seeing increasing demands for home care and other forms of domiciliary care, such as meals at home and occupational therapy."

In the old days many frail, elderly people would have convalesced in a hospital bed but the modern NHS is so focused on acute services that this is no longer possible. "The hospital service is under huge pressure to make sure that people don't stay in their beds longer than they need to," says Mike.

This means that there is even greater demand for home-based care when elderly patients are discharged back home, helping them to stay active and maintain their independence.

Mike is also under no illusions about the competition the North-East care providers face in the jobs market. "This is a sector of the working population which is very attractive to call centres and supermarkets - they tend to be female and part-time with family commitments."

The Topps chief knows that to meet the daunting target of 25,000 extra care workers, the industry needs to do something different. "We have done a lot of work to try to get more men to think about this as a career and we need to do more. It is not an automatic thing for young lads to think about"

But Mike believes that the rewards of working in the care sector, if properly promoted to men as well as women, can bring in the new manpower sorely needed.

"There is a huge degree of satisfaction in working with someone who is convalescing or undergoing rehabilitation after a period in hospital," says Mike. "Many people who work with the same family for years become really attached to them. It always amazes me that when I attend funerals, you often find two or three of the carers there."

Mike says the advantages of working in the care industry can outweigh many conventional alternatives but prospective recruits need to have their eyes opened. "The kind of person I am thinking of is someone who might have been working in a factory, a shop or a supermarket who thinks 'I have had enough of this life, I want to do something different'."

While social care needs a big influx of manpower to cope with rising demand, the industry is also going through fundamental changes.

Maureen Horton explains: "By April this year, 50 per cent of workers in every home should have reached their National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level Two in social care. We have done it, but many homes haven't."

The new, more structured approach to social care means that employers are being encouraged to put staff through basic training. "We pay the staff for the time they are at college and we have to pay for someone else to cover for them but it brings many benefits," says Maureen.

All new care staff also have to go on a Topss induction course. "Apart from teaching you the basics about handling clients, it really hammers home the need to preserve their dignity and privacy," says Maureen, who has no doubts that the changes in social care will encourage more people to take the industry seriously as a career option.

"Some of our staff have really benefited from going on these courses," says Maureen. She is particularly pleased that a 16-year-old school leaver recently joined the team and is relishing the work.

Says Maureeen: "When I see her sitting with one of my residents with a smile on her face, I know she couldn't get that from stacking shelves at a supermarket."

* For more information about opting for a career in social care ring 01642 384997 (for Tees Valley) or 0191 3835518 (for County Durham).