SOCIAL care workers in the independent sector in Wales are to be given greater support to protect their wellbeing during the pandemic.

A new scheme focusing on emotional support, including one-to-one counselling, aims to provide easy access to wellbeing support for care workers who have been affected by their experiences working during the pandemic, when many have looked after the most vulnerable while being exposed to high levels of stress.

Managed by Social Care Wales – the Welsh Government has supported the scheme with a £200,000 cash injection.

The Welsh Government says the scheme recognises “the personal impact this has had on many workers and will provide more consistent support across the sector”.

The scheme, which is available to around 55,000 people, will build on wellbeing support already available through the Social Care Wales website, where the Covid-19 and wellbeing pages have been accessed the most since the pandemic started.

“We understand the great strain social care workers have been under at the forefront of the battle against coronavirus, and the toll this has taken on their mental health,” minister for mental health and wellbeing Eluned Morgan explained.

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“This support will ensure consistent provision of short and long term emotional support across the sector.

“This programme already comes on top of free access for social care workers to Silvercloud, an independent provider of mental healthcare, which offers four on-line programmes to help people with sleep, stress, and resilience.

“We would urge social care workers who could benefit from it to access this professional support, as it’s important they know someone is there to care for them when they need it.”

Sue Evans, Chief Executive of Social Care Wales, said: “Every day we see thousands of social care workers providing excellent services to those needing care and support, under the most challenging and stressful of situations, brought on by this awful pandemic.

“This makes it so important we support their health and well-being as much as possible. This is not only vital for the workers themselves but for those they support.

“This new programme will be a huge boost to those working in social care, giving them the reassurance that they can access a range of services that can help them and their families through this extraordinarily difficult time."