Britain’s new Prime Minister must intervene to solve a care staffing crisis which has led to a sticking plaster reliance on agency staff who are more expensive, inexperienced and unreliable, says Care England’s chief executive.
Boris Johnson may have packed his bags to vacate 10 Downing Street and despite promises to fix social care, during his time in office job vacancies in the care sector have risen by 52 per cent (55,000) in the last twelve months, according to Skills for Care data.
Poor quality, less experienced and poorly trained
To cope with staff shortages, a Care England poll of 95 care home and home care providers has revealed 78 per cent are using more agency workers than in 2021 but 73 per cent think agency staff are less reliable.
Care home providers say many agency workers are poor quality, less experienced and inappropriately trained. Some 86 per cent of care providers polled (collectively responsible for 70,000 registered beds), said the costs of agency staff have increased since April 2021 and 77 per cent said it became more difficult to book them.
Agency staff are a ‘bandage’ for recruitment issues
“The use of agency staff has been a bandage over more deep-routed recruitment and retention issues, which now, expectedly, are unravelling”, said Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents independent care providers.
“The results of our recent survey demonstrate the severity of these issues, with the usage and cost of agency staff increasing dramatically over the last year.
Care England’s Agency Fee Survey revealed how the Covid-19 pandemic has made care homes’ reliance on expensive agency staff worse. Agency rates are significantly more than care worker (£19.57 vs £9.90) and nurse (£27.56 vs £19.49) employee hourly rates.
Some workers who left care jobs because of pay are reportedly moving to higher-paid agency work.
Care levy’s £500m over three years is 5.7p per hour per worker
Credit: Shutterstock
The government recently announced plans to expand overseas recruitment of care staff and is allocating £500m over the next three years to boost the career development and wellbeing of social care staff.
While welcoming the government’s aim to help care homes recruit and retain staff, Mr Green warned: “The current measures in place are wholly insufficient.
“For example, the £500m being generated via the Health and Social Care Levy for the workforce over the next three years only equates to 5.7p per hour for each sector employee; this does not begin to touch the sides of such vast workforce pressures.
“There is a rich pool of individuals both internationally and domestically that have the potential to bolster the workforce and reduce reliance on agency staff.
“Agency is a short-term solution which has now snowballed into a long-term fix for adult social care providers. This is not sustainable.”
Care England wants to see equal pay rates between domestic and overseas staff and a plan for overseas recruitment in line with the code of practice on global staff shortages.
Care England has backed calls from the House of Commons’ levelling up select committee, for the government to give £7bn a year extra for social care and consider a cap on agency fees, as is the case in the NHS.
A government spokesman said: “Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and terms and conditions, independent of central government. Our social care workforce is valued, appreciated and supported, which is why we are providing at least £500m to develop and support the workforce. ”
To read the original article click here