State of Care report: SCIE response

For years we have talked about the social care workforce crisis – the “leaky bucket” – with the supply of care workers insufficient to meet the demand for care. We welcome the focus in today’s report on retaining a skilled workforce in social care. Skills for Care have found five actions, in combination, that lead to stabilising the workforce, including addressing pay and working conditions as well as investing in staff development through training and qualifications. Investing in these five factors produces dividends for care providers, care workers and especially people who draw on care.

We also welcome Skills for Care’s plans to produce a workforce strategy. Behind the workforce numbers is the growing demand for a highly skilled workforce — one capable of meeting the increasingly complex needs of people drawing on care. The numbers in the report suggest we will continue to fall short of meeting this demand without a cultural change in how and where care is provided. In addition to stabilising the workforce, we should invest in new ways to provide care that are both personalised and preventative.