Caring Plymouth

About

• Region: South West
• Type of locality: Urban
• Year of launch: 2023
• Academy type: Health and Care Academy
• Funding model: Local authority and Department for Work and Pensions funded
• Key features: Hybrid delivery model (co-design and co-delivery)

Plymouth is an urban area with an estimated population of 264,000. The total number of jobs in the adult social care sector is estimated to be 9,000, with 900 of these being vacancies. The staff turnover rate is 29.5 per cent, which is lower than the regional average (32.2 per cent). The local domiciliary care market has a turnover rate of 39.2 per cent and a vacancy rate of 19.1 per cent.

Caring Plymouth is a city-wide partnership, launched in November 2023. The overarching aim of Caring Plymouth is to achieve the vision for an integrated, flexible approach that delivers a sustainable skilled workforce, which can provide the highest quality of care and support. The Academy seeks to support the delivery of the local health and care skills strategy by creating a local place-based approach, working as part of the wider system. There is a focus on promoting careers and pathways across the health and care system.

Caring Plymouth aims to develop and promote skills, training, education, careers and jobs in the health and social care sector. The Academy brings these aims together to act both as a ‘go to’ place for careers advice and guidance and provide workforce support for adult social care providers.

The Caring Plymouth team comes from the city’s existing Health and Care Skills Partnership. Strategic direction is provided by a Programme Director from the Local Care Partnership, with day-to-day oversight provided by a Skills Lead based within Plymouth City Council’s (PCC) Skills and Post-16 team. The Skills Lead manages two full-time Health and Care Coordinators who work on operational delivery.

Caring Plymouth works in collaboration and undertakes co-production activities with PCC. They also work closely with local adult social care providers, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and other members of their steering group, listed in full below:

• Adult social care providers
• University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
• Livewell Southwest
• PCC Commissioning and Skills teams
• NHS Devon
• DWP
• Further and higher education providers
• Independent training providers.

Caring Plymouth’s delivery model is built around the skills framework contained within the Plymouth Skills Plan 2021-2026. It has three core components:

1. Demand – understanding business need and creating a coordinated partnership across health and social care, with a focus on adult social care
2. Supply – skills and training for working age adults, including career progression support for those already in the social care workforce
3. Pipeline – creating a pipeline for those in education or training and young people not in employment, education or training (NEET).

Caring Plymouth uses labour market information (LMI) to focus efforts and prioritise critical skills shortages in the sector. The regional LMI helps the Academy to determine which roles are in demand (such as nurses and frontline carers) and allows the Academy to inform young people and adults interested in careers in care.

Caring Plymouth’s Health and Care Coordinator roles are funded through two funding streams: from PCC commissioners, and one-year and two-year contracts with DWP.

The Caring Plymouth offer includes the following:

• presence across job centres – meeting claimants, raising awareness of the sector, matching applicants to job vacancies and training opportunities, briefing work coaches and working closely with sector-specific Employment Advisers
• regular information sessions for people from local communities, facilitated by the Health and Care Coordinators including – the long-term unemployed, those aged over 50, refugees, those accessing mental health support, those looking to return to work, and those seeking in-work progression
• organising system-wide recruitment and career eventsacross the health and care system
• supporting learners to transition into the health and care sector
• managing enquiries and supporting individuals who have registered through the city-wide recruitment campaign
• promoting social care careers through posters and social media
• drop-in sessions and pre-employability support and advice for students
• supporting staff in the sector at risk of redundancy, including those working in care homes that are at risk of closure
• supporting care leavers to secure employment in the sector
• weekly health and social care drop-in sessions at Skills Launchpad Plymouth (a one-stop-shop for skills, training, education, careers and jobs in the city).

Caring Plymouth focuses on direct engagement with local health and care providers. This has enabled the commissioning team to prioritise areas where Plymouth has significant recruitment challenges. This responsiveness, of sharing ‘real-time’ recruitment information when there has been a critical shortage, has been a fundamental success factor of the Academy thus far. Subsequently, this has allowed the Academy to engage and connect people to where the needs are within the sector.

The Academy’s relationship with the DWP has allowed for joined up working with claimants. Rather than just providing a list of vacancies, the team offers impartial advice, helps to identify and arrange relevant training and provides a vacancy matching service.

It can be difficult for the Academy to attract people into social care due to misconceptions about the work and a lack of parity with jobs and careers in health. Pay and conditions (especially for frontline care workers) can also be a dissuading factor for potential applicants.

The Academy is working hard to promote positive messages about jobs and careers in care, including awareness raising activities with children, young people, parents and careers guidance professionals. Having up-to-date information on local vacancies helps, as do the work placements and interview preparation sessions, but the Academy, nonetheless, acknowledges the significance of the challenge.

We are trying to work through this. People have a lot of perceptions around low pay and the condition of the roles which makes it difficult. A large part of this is how do we get the influencers – parents, schools and career advisors – to ensure that young people do not just think about NHS doctors and nurses, but do consider adult social care roles too?”

Caring Plymouth highlights the following evidence of achievements to date (March 2024):

• 653 people have been supported by the Academy with a skills action plan (540 claimants, 113 non-claimants)
• 165 people have moved into paid employment in health or social care
• 57 people have moved into employment in a different sector
• 69 people have undertaken training, work experience or voluntary work
• 637 have been supported with careers, employability, financial or mental health support, or both (referred to collectively by the Academy as ‘social justice interventions’).

Website: Caring Plymouth (skillslaunchpadplym.co.uk)

Contact: [email protected]