A CARE worker from Dorset has launched a new recruitment platform to attempt to tackle the challenges facing the profession.

Mav Kopczewski has co-founded the online booking platform Urtle.

The portal allows nurses and health care assistants to choose their care shifts on a system that draws similarities to dating application Tinder.

Jobs are proposed on the website based on their fit with the employee's profile, giving them the opportunity to like or dismiss the offering based on their own preferences.

Mr Kopczewski said this provides the workers with a new level of control over when and where they work.

His motives for the website came after he became frustrated by his own efforts to find jobs and shifts through various "unhelpful" agencies.

After he also noticed care homes were struggling to recruit staff, he set about making Urtle a reality.

“Any care worker knows how difficult it can be to get shifts at a time and place that works for you and we often feel obliged to say yes to agency shifts, even if it’s not a shift we want to take, out of fear that we won’t be offered further shifts," Mr Kopczewski said.

"I knew that there must be a better way of doing this which is how Urtle was born. I wanted to place recruitment back into the hands of the employees and give them control over their working lives.”

Urtle, which is one of the first steps healthcare has taken into the gig economy, allows its users to sign up for shifts as and when they need them.

Care workers can sign up to Urtle for free and receive a £50 bonus when they complete their first 12-hour shift on urtle.co.uk.

Last month, the Daily Echo reported on another online platform for the care industry, called Roostr. Launched by Rebecca Hannam, it aimed to be an 'Uber for the care industry', using an app to allow nurses and care assistants to make themselves available for work.