Quality is the watchword for a new agency launched to provide temporary staff to nursing and residential care homes across Wales.

Celtic Care Company, which has its headquarters in Welshpool, is now recruiting nursing and care staff from Wales and the borders and is offering attractive hourly rates.

Free training is offered to all applicants, as is assistance with the mandatory registration process with Social Care Wales for candidates lacking experience.

The company, which is headed by Dr Gwenllian Hughes, who has 25 years’ experience in the social care sector, had originally intended to provide its professional services to Mid and North Wales.

However, demand from the sector has persuaded Gwenllian to expand the services across the whole of Wales and she is keen to hear from potential clients who require quality temporary staff.

She is looking to recruit from every part of Wales, so that she can supply nursing and care homes with staff living in the surrounding communities.

To apply to join the agency, visit https://celticcarestaffing.co.uk/application/ .

Due to heavy demand in parts of the country where the Welsh language is used widely, Gwenllian is particularly keen to recruit Welsh speaking staff who can easily relate to the elderly people they are caring for.

However, free basic training in Welsh conversational skills will be made available and candidates will be strongly encouraged to partake.

She stresses that the company has a rigorous staff recruitment process, selecting only the best applicants who have good English and preferably Welsh language skills.

Possession of a full driving licence is particularly desirable for those who live or want to work in rural areas.

Having a disability herself, due to a series of hip operations since childhood, Gwenllian is also encouraging applications from people with health related disabilities. “I want to know what they can do, rather than what they can’t do,” she stressed.

Military veterans and their families are another recruitment target for the company, which has signed the Armed Forces Covenant.

Recruitment of veterans is being led by Gwenllian’s fellow director, retired Colonel Steven Windmill, who has a distinguished military service record and is now a successful businessman.

She wants the caring ‘Cymreicdod’ or ‘Welshness’ of the company to shine through in the professional nursing and care services provided to clients.

Attractive pay rates offered by Celtic Care Company are from £14.89 an hour for registered care staff and from £25.35 an hour for nursing staff, based on working Monday to Friday, as well as a range of other benefits.

“I have launched the Celtic Care Company because, having worked in the private care sector for 25 years, I have seen big gaps in the services, standards can be variable and there is most certainly a shortage of high quality carers,” explained Gwenllian.

“Furthermore, regulations vary in the different nations of the UK. A one-size-fits-all service simply doesn’t work.

“We have built the Celtic Care Company to offer a service which reflects the needs of Wales and, above all, the needs of its people.

"I want to ensure, wherever possible, that we provide staff from the surrounding community to homes, making it easier for residents to relate to them.

“To ensure that our high standards are maintained, we shall, by arrangement with the home, be making unannounced drop in visits to nursing and residential care homes to check how our staff are getting on.”

Celtic Care Company’s finance director is Michael Russell and the senior team also includes Arlene Wells, RMN, nurse recruiter and Sharon Reilly, RGN, training and compliance manager.