Belsize Village, London, UK: Penrose Care is honoured to announce that its managing director, Robert Stephenson-Padron, was adjudicated as “The Most Outstanding Leader in the Care Sector in the UK” at the 2016 UK Over 50s Housing Awards ceremony held at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, London on March 20, 2017. The ceremony recognises excellence in the health and social care industry across the United Kingdom.
On the occasion of receiving the award, Robert Stephenson-Padron addressed the combined conference and ceremony attendees which included Gary Hartland of St Philips Care Group of Wolverhampton and Charles Skene, chairman of Skene Group which owns the Inchmarlo Retirement Village in Royal Deeside, Scotland:
“I am honoured to receive this prestigious award, which I also received in 2014. Sadly, I must admit that I am far more pessimistic with respect to the outlook of health and social care in the UK than I was just a few years ago. Although courageous and innovative providers like Penrose Care can provide good jobs to our workforce while providing excellent care day in and day out, this is in the context of a wider sector that is doing neither nor does it appear to have the willpower nor the ability to reform in any material way to manage the daunting challenges associated with an ageing society.
The dismal health and social care backdrop is further exacerbated by a policy environment which is incoherent. We want to attract locals to work in social care but the public sector does not sufficiently fund the sector to pay even the national minimum wage in many cases. Nor does it sufficiently enforce national minimum wage laws when the sector fails to meet this basic law of decency which engenders a culture of impunity in a sector that should have a culture of responsibility [1]. Further, the sector has difficulties in building a healthy private segment to subsidise ailing public finances because the public sector actively permits and at times promotes unregulated providers, abusive use of unmeasured work contracts; and fails to crack down on the misclassification of employees which undermines honest companies like Penrose Care.
We want a skilled social care workforce and lean providers but we have been handed down from the government a care worker training system which is low on usefulness and high on paperwork. And that is assuming we can find workers to train. We have a sector with a severe staffing shortage – where roughly 80% of new recruits come from the EU – but we have a government which goes out of its way to make EU nationals feel uncomfortable here in the UK [2] [3]. We have a sector where BBC Panorama reported this morning that one in four home care providers in England are at risk of insolvency [4], but we have a regulator which just agreed to put up its fees to home care providers in England by 60% year-on-year [5]. The crisis in health and social care reflects a public leadership – and this is a cross-party failing – which lacks vision, and as the Bible tells us, ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’ [6] People are literally perishing due to the lack of vision among our public leadership as we read in the papers these days of people dying in hospital corridors. [7]
Failing to properly care for the elderly and infirm in our society is immoral. And if our public leaders will not stand up and make the reforms and improvements needed to address this national injustice, we the leaders of the health and social care sector with good will must stand up and inform civil society of the horrors being committed in a failing health and social care sector. We the leaders of Britain’s health and social care sector must work with British civil society so that the conviction that many of us hold dear – that all life is precious – is better reflected in British society going forward.”
Following granting the award to Mr. Stephenson-Padron, Esmonde Crawley, worldwide expert on care for the over 50’s and master of ceremonies of the UK Over 50s Housing Awards stated: “There is a dearth of good leaders who can lead the care industry in this country and it’s welcoming to see a rare beast indeed in Penrose [Care] and it’s wonderful to think that someone has the courage and the gnast to speak up when so many remain silent during these difficult times.”
At the awards ceremony, Mr. Crawley noted that this year at the UK Over 50s Housing Awards only 8 awards were given compared to 24 last year, reflecting the declining nature of good leadership in the health and social care industry in the UK.
ENDS
Media Contact
Penrose Care
Robert Stephenson-Padron
robert.padron@penrosecare.co.uk
0207 435 2644
UK Over 50s Housing Awards
Ann Richards
Suite 212, 28 Old Brompton Road
South Kensington
London SW7 3SS
0207 681 2020
Notes
[1] “Tens of thousands of care workers ‘still paid below minimum wage despite new regulations’” (Independent: 23 March 2016), available here.
[2] “Most European migrant care staff at risk of losing right to remain” (Community Care: 21 September 2016), available here.
[3] “U.K. lawmakers reject bid to guarantee rights of EU citizens” (USA Today: 14 March 2017), available here.
[4] “’Lack of money’ prompts care firms to end council contracts” (BBC News: 20 March 2017), available here.
[5] Changes in regulatory fees for providers confirmed (CQC: 10 March 2017), available here.
[6] Proverbs 29: 18 (BibleGateway: accessed 21 March 2017), available here.
[7] “Three patients die at Worcestershire hospital amid NHS winter crisis” (The Guardian: 06 January 2017) here.
About the UK Over 50s Housing Awards
The UK Over 50s Housing Awards have been created to celebrate and reward the best individual and company performances in the over-50s housing sector in the UK. The Awards recognise the rapid growth of the over-50s housing sector in the UK, and the capacity of individuals to influence and set new performance standards across the UK. The Awards focus on elevated performance; the creation of new business models; contrarian thinking; recognising and embracing new trends; market leadership; inspirational performance and the elevation of the customer experience. The awards have been running since 2009.
About Robert Stephenson-Padron
Robert Stephenson-Padron, aged 32, is a healthcare industry expert and former public servant. Prior to starting Penrose Care in 2012 with Dr. Matthew Knight, he was a healthcare research analyst at Merrill Lynch (2010-12), which he joined from Barclays Capital/Barclays PLC (2007-10). From 2003-2006, he served as a commissioner of the City of Berkeley, California, USA. Mr. Padron holds a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley and a Master in Economics & Finance from the Universidad de Navarra. Mr. Padron also holds a QCF Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services (Adults’ Management) (England) From Edexcel and a Higher Level Apprenticeship in General Adult Social Care from the Federation for Industry Sector Skills & Standards. Mr. Padron, growing up jointly in Gonzales, California and the northern cities of San Luis Obispo County, California, attended Gonzales High School and Templeton High School.
About Penrose Care
Penrose Care is an ethical provider of home care services London, United Kingdom to adults with disabilities and elderly persons, including those with dementia. The company operates upon a fundamental belief that to promote a caring workforce, the organisation itself must be caring. As the pioneer of ethics in home care in the UK, Penrose Care in 2012 became one of the first four providers in the country to become an Accredited Living Wage Employer and in 2013 the first independent sector provider to be compliant with Citizens UK’s landmark Social Care Charter. Penrose Care was named the Living Wage Champion for the London region in 2016 by the Living Wage Foundation.
Penrose Care’s ethical approach promotes higher quality social care workers and low staff turnover which in turn results in excellent care. Penrose Care is headquartered in Belsize Village, north London and was founded by Robert Stephenson-Padron, a healthcare research analyst, and Dr. Matthew Knight, a hospital physician.
Esmonde Crawley, worldwide care expert, with Robert Stephenson-Padron after naming him “The Most Outstanding Leader in the Care Sector in the UK”.
Penrose Care managing director Robert Stephenson-Padron addresses leaders of the UK health and social care sector at the UK Over 50s Housing Awards on March 20, 2017.