A new care company in Northumberland is "hoping to turn care on its head" - but said the pandemic had made it "a real struggle" to recruit new staff.
The care staffing crisis has been exacerbated in recent months, with thousands leaving the profession nationwide due to being mandated to have their Covid-19 jabs.
However, the Government has now announced its intention to ditch that policy, subject to consultation and agreement in the House of Commons.
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Rachel Manley is a development coach for the start-up firm BelleVie - which means she manages care plans for clients and helps support support workers with care visits.
BelleVie received "Good" ratings across the board in its first CQC inspection last winter. Rachel joined the company in the spring of 2021 and said though, starting work during the pandemic had been tough she had enjoyed moving into the care industry.
She said: "I was a stay-at-home mum. I had always found it incredibly difficult to find jobs that would fit around children. And because I'm 35, I wanted a job where I could build myself up.
"Working through the pandemic has been a really tough time for everyone. The company have looked after our wellbeing - to help us provide the best care we can to the people who need it.
"At the end of the day, Covid has been around. There's been no getting away from that. But that hasn't stopped us giving care."
Rachel explained BelleVie aimed to offer "person-centred care", adding: "We try to turn care on its head a little bit. Other care firms might try to go out and have as many into a 'run' as possible.
"Whereas we think that can see care provided not as it should be.
"Our aim is to try to help people thrive in their own homes. We do personal care, we do wellbeing visits, we take clients with, for example, dementia out and about.
"There's a gentleman who loves hiking, we take him out and he has a picnic. We try to give that little bit extra to make sure that people aren't just receiving care but they're thriving."
But, like many firms in the sector, recruiting care staff remains a serious challenge.
"The problem we have is we're struggling with recruitment," Rachel said. "Sometimes people see our adverts and might think it's too good to be true."
She said flexible shifts and good pay were real positives of working for BelleVie and added: "It's brilliant for parents. I've two boys and would arrange to do a run from nine until two pm and then perhaps in evenings.
"Care is a brilliant career to get into - but sometimes it can get a bit of a bad name. People can think it's really unsociable, hard work and long hours.
"Of course it is hard work. But there's a way of doing it and looking after our staff as well as our clients."
She said the firm - which takes referrals from Northumberland County Council as well as self-funded families - had managed throughout the pandemic by taking precautions to avoid cross-contamination when visiting clients.
"There's been time where we've been short-staffed, but that's where our teams have all come together," she added.
As for the vaccine mandate, Rachel said that while vaccines were important, it had been tough on the industry.
"When you take on staff we've had to ring them up and ask them this quite personal question," she said. "Vaccinations are important, but that's wrong for me, but it's just been the way things have been."
Earlier this month, the Government u-turned on the vaccine mandate policy, but union figures told it that "the damage had already been done".
In a statement, the Department of Health and Social Care said the "legal requirement for health and social care staff to be double jabbed" was to be removed subject to parliamentary approval and a consultation.
But that those who hadn't been vaccinated should do so as it was a "professional responsibility".
