Reports at the end of last year highlighted the truth about the extent of the crisis in the Social Care sector.
Two reports from the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, a report from the Levelling Up Committee, updated workforce data from Skills for Care, plus a survey of NHS Leaders published by the NHS Confederation are cause for alarm.
The Commons report paints a particularly bleak picture where one in three care workers left their jobs during 2021, 95% of care providers are struggling to recruit staff, and three quarters of care workers are paid below the Living Wage.
Even as the care sector is still dealing with the aftershock of the pandemic, there are other, more recent pressures that are all contributing factors in an unsettled field.
With the cost-of-living crisis pushing more and more people into poverty, and the low pay and lack of opportunities for progression within the sector, care workers have no choice but to leave rewarding jobs for better paid roles so they can feed their families. This can only end one way; with a severe shortage of experienced workers.
The Care Workers’ Charity states that the amount given out in crisis grants is increasing by 55% from one month to the next, and over the last year there has been a 27% increase in care workers requesting support with daily living costs.
Leaders in this sector agree that without immediate action to fill 165,000 vacancies in social care, the impact will be felt in hospitals and homes across the UK.
However, short-term funding and handouts aren’t the solution to the main problem, they are only band aids. Workers need to feel valued and have their contributions viewed on a par with their counterparts in the NHS. They should also be rewarded for length of service and have better access to training and development opportunities.
Social care needs to be seen as an exciting career prospect for younger people with real progression opportunities, be it pay or professional development. This means putting adequate levels of funding in place and encouraging a new generation to engage with the sector. The alternative would means untenable consequences for the NHS, unpaid carers, and ultimately the people who depend on the existing care and support system.