As part of its ongoing commitment to continually invest in the quality of care for residents and patients by recruiting and retaining the very best staff, Barchester Healthcare is delighted to be adding to its sector-leading staff benefits and rewards by announcing that it is investing an additional £8.1m in its pay and bonus structure. This will mean an annual net increase of 8.6% or an additional £1,950 gross annual pay for carers and home support staff working 42 hours per week, including a loyalty bonus payment of £700. What’s more, Barchester will now pay the NMC PIN for all its nurses on an annual basis.
The only healthcare provider in the UK to be awarded 2 star ‘Outstanding’ status as one of the ‘Best Companies to work for’ by its own employees, Barchester is already proud of its sector-leading staff benefits, rewards and pay rates. Building on the great foundations of reward and recognition, in 2020/2021 Barchester paid its staff three additional Covid-related bonuses to thank them for their determination and hard work during the pandemic. As of April 2021, all Barchester staff have been paid above the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW).
For carers and home support staff, Barchester’s new bonus rewards staff retention and loyalty and will be paid to eligible staff in recognition of their commitment over a six month period.
All staff who work at Barchester will continue to benefit from a number of other financial incentives such as: enhanced maternity/paternity pay, the Rewarding Excellence Scheme, aligned to its quality first approach, whereby if a care home/hospital achieves a ‘Good’ care rating (or equivalent), every member of the team receives a £100 gift card and for an ‘Outstanding’ rating (or equivalent), it’s a £500 gift card and the Refer a Friend Scheme (worth £250 – £500). These all form part of Barchester’s staff retention programme because from experience they know that longer serving staff deliver better quality of care for residents as they have built a relationship and trust. Staff retention also enables a high standard of teamwork.
Barchester also offers a broad range of career development opportunities through its extensive Learning & Development programme with career pathways in care, nursing and other operational roles mapped out to support staff to fulfil their potential progress through the ranks to more senior roles within the business.
Barchester CEO, Dr Pete Calveley, who won four industry awards in 2021 in recognition of his leadership through the pandemic, comments: “The staff in our care homes have been at the frontline in the battle against Covid-19, working relentlessly together to keep our residents and patients safe and well. We are delighted to announce these additional benefits to thank our Barchester teams for their dedication and hard work. We will continue to invest in our staff by providing the best possible training, pay and benefits packages in our sector.”
