Crisis as 110,000 carer vacancies remain unfilled
A RECRUITMENT campaign to try to plug a hole of 110,000 vacancies in the social care workforce has been launched by the Government.
More than 1.45 million people work in social care, but an extra 650,000 workers will be needed by 2035 due to an ageing population, ministers said.
The new campaign – Every Day Is Different – comes as the Health Foundation published its own report on the NHS workforce, expressing concerns about the growing number of staff shortages across the board.
The new Department of Health and Social Care campaign aims to promote social care as a career with good progression and professional development.
Worrying
It will promote a range of roles, including carer in a nursing home, activities co-ordinator in the community, hospital occupational therapist and personal assistant in a person’s home.
Health and Social Care minister Caroline Dinenage said: “There is huge demand for more care professionals who work incredibly hard to look after the most vulnerable people in our society.
“We must spread the word that careers in adult social care can be rewarding, varied and worthwhile. Care is a vocation where you can transform people’s lives.”
The staff turnover rate in the sector is 30.7 per cent, equating to nearly 400,000 people leaving care jobs every year. As of February 2018, the typical hourly rate for a care worker in the independent sector was £7.82 per hour. Since then, the national minimum wage for anyone over 25 has risen by a penny to £7.83.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, said: “A Governmentled social care recruitment initiative is warmly welcome and long overdue, but it needs to be coupled with a raft of measures to improve the status, terms and conditions of the job.”
George McNamara, director of charity Independent Age, said staff turnover in social care was twice the national average.
He added: “Workers are leaving due to low wages, little job progression, lack of training and perceived lower status compared to similar health care roles.
“Many of these issues should have been addressed, but haven’t because of delays to the social care Green Paper.
“Solely focusing on recruitment, without also addressing staff retention, will severely limit the impact of the campaign.”