For the first time ever, the adult social care sector has come together to develop a workforce strategy for adult social care in England.
Led by Skills for Care, the strategy sets out a clear direction for the short and longer term, as well as pragmatic action to be taken in the short to medium term to address current workforce challenges.
At a launch event this morning (18th July), co-Chairs of the strategy Oonagh Smyth, CEO of Skills for Care, and Sir David Pearson, Director of Adult Social Care in Nottinghamshire, laid out the key points of the strategy and the next steps to take these recommendations forward. The recommendations are split into three key areas: attract and retain, train, and transform.
An integral part of attracting and retaining staff is improving pay and work conditions. Skills for Care commissioned economic analysts to independently model different options for increasing pay, this includes paying all care workers the National Living Wage, as well as paying care works £1 or £2 per hour above the National Living Wage.
Speaking at the launch, Sir David Pearson said: “The modelling has estimated the number of people that each option would help us to attract and keep. This ranges from a fairly modest 7,150 extra recruits for enforcing the National Living Wage, to around half a million potential recruits for the most expensive options.”
The modelling found that all of the options would result in savings elsewhere, including savings to the NHS and reduced recruitment costs for providers, and improve the wellbeing of those drawing on support.
The strategy also calls on the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Health and Social Care to sponsor a 10-year attraction plan for social care, which is particularly focused on attract younger people and men, who are significantly underrepresented in social care roles.
While the strategy includes plans to bolster international recruitment, it says we must avoid an overreliance on overseas workers. The strategy therefore lays out plans to improve domestic recruitment and retention by offering equal access to career development.
Another key aspect of the workforce strategy is investing in high quality training and developing clear career pathways. The strategy calls for a three-year funding commitment and plan which provides social workers with new skills in digital data and technology, and supports changing needs such as dementia and other mental ill health.
Pearson said: “Training and development helps people to do their jobs. It also helps us to keep people, because when we train people, they stay, and the more we train them, the longer they stay.”
“Annual funding rounds make it harder for care providers to invest and harder for the learning provider market to respond, but a three year funding commitment would change that,” he added.
The strategy also calls to bolster adult social care apprenticeships, which have seen a 75% drop since 2016, as well as investing in training for occupational therapists and registered nurses, and developing managers through support, education and potential registration.
The final recommendation centres around ensuring the implementation of these recommendations. Skills for Care recommend that a report is published at least every five years which describes the system in place for assessing and meeting workforce needs.
A central body would oversee these recommendations and have the responsibility to implement and further review the adult social care workforce strategy alongside the government. Pearson says this would ensure that the strategy translates into “tangible action” and tackles the issues facing social care.
Oonagh Smyth says the launch of the strategy ‘is just the beginning’ and we all have a role to play in making these recommendations become a reality.
Smyth notes that since we have recently had a change of government, there are still a lot of ‘unknowns’, but they are encouraged to see commitment from various organisations, including the CQC who have agreed to support the strategy.
Sir David Pearson said implementing the strategy would lead to “long lasting transformation in the adult social care sector.”
“The adult social care sector has galvanized around this strategy, and this presents us with an opportunity for a powerful alliance with the government if we can all work together in partnership to deliver the strategy and transform social care.
“No one body and no one leader has all the levers and all the powers to make this happen, but we do collectively by working together. We can build a future where social care offers fulfilling careers, attracts talented individuals and empowers its workforce to deliver exceptional care,” he said.
