Crisis looms as nearly 400,000 exit UK social care sector

Approximately 400,000 individuals departed from their roles in the social care sector during the year leading up to March. Of these, nearly one-third left the sector entirely, as per a comprehensive annual report on workforce trends, revealing a notable staffing issue as reported in The Independent.

Skills for Care, the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England, has projected that the sector will require approximately 25% more positions in just over a decade. This translates to approximately 440,000 positions to keep pace with the anticipated rise in the population of individuals aged 65 and above by 2035.

Skills for Care is collaborating with various stakeholders within the social care realm to create a workforce strategy for the next 15 years, complementing the NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan released earlier in the year. The objective is to ensure the sector has an adequate number of well-skilled individuals and to assist employers and commissioners in their workforce planning.

Among the report’s key findings, it was noted that around 70,000 individuals arrived in the UK and commenced direct care-providing roles in the independent sector during the year leading up to March. This marked a significant increase in international recruitment, a shift attributed to the inclusion of care workers on the Shortage Occupation List in February 2022.

The report also highlighted that while care worker wages increased more rapidly following the introduction of the national living wage, there was minimal disparity in pay based on experience. Care workers with over five years of experience were paid just 0.6% more per hour than those with less than one year of experience.

The adult social care sector is estimated to contribute approximately £55.7 billion to the English economy annually, surpassing the economic impact of the accommodation and food service industries. The report emphasizes the positive role the sector plays in local economies, particularly in economically deprived regions.

A previous report from Skills for Care in July indicated that the workforce had grown by 1% between April 2022 and March 2023, following a reduction the previous year, with a decline in the vacancy rate. However, the latest report highlighted a turnover rate of 28.3%, indicating that nearly 390,000 individuals left their jobs, and about one-third exited the sector altogether.

In the past year, the proportion of men in the sector increased from 18% to 19%, marking the first recorded increase. However, only 8% of the workforce was under 25, compared to 12% of the economically active population.

The report coincides with the government’s launch of a recruitment campaign to bolster the social care workforce for the third consecutive year.

Oonagh Smyth, CEO of Skills for Care, welcomed the growth in the workforce but acknowledged the persistent challenges. She stressed the need for a comprehensive workforce strategy to address both recruitment and retention issues, emphasizing that merely increasing recruitment won’t suffice.

Miriam Deakin, director of policy and strategy at NHS Providers, and representatives from Care England and the Health Foundation echoed the need for a new approach, asserting that international recruitment alone would not address the underlying issues of low pay and working conditions.

Beverley Tarka, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass), called for a fully funded, long-term plan for social care to address these concerns.

A government spokesperson defended their efforts to expand the social care workforce and fill vacancies, citing significant investment in support for councils.

Here at Ashwell Home Care Services, we aim to transform how care is delivered within the community and we understand a large part of this comes down to how we treat our wonderful staff. We aim to ensure all of our carers are appreciated, respected, listened to as well as supported and acknowledged.

We don’t believe in throwing people in at the deep end or that training should be unpaid – we take the time to ensure you are fully prepared for your first shift with all training times paid. We also ensure all of our carers have adequate time to reach clients so that you always have time to compose yourself. You will also have time to build up a friendship with the client as well as time to carry out all tasks with kindness and respect.

If you would like to find out more about working with us, please visit our Careers page where you can also drop us a message and we can arrange for you to pop in for a chat about joining our team.