High quality care and support services are dependent upon a highly skilled and valued workforce, appropriately rewarded for their work and the vital impact that it has on people’s lives.
People with care and support needs should receive personalised and high-quality services to enable them to enjoy fulfilled lives in their own homes and communities. Consistent care should be available to all, irrespective of age, location, or circumstance.
High quality care and support services are dependent upon a highly skilled and valued workforce, appropriately rewarded for their work and the vital impact that it has on people’s lives.
The term workforce includes:
employees working in statutory organisations with responsibility for ASC functions
those commissioned by councils and employed by care providers or through agencies to deliver care and support
those people employed via a direct payment i.e. personal assistants
care staff employed as part of any integrated arrangements with health.
While not part of the paid workforce, we also recognise the invaluable role that informal and unpaid carers and volunteers play in supporting people to live the lives that they want to live in their own homes.
Social care is a major employer, contributing £40.5 billion annually to the national economy, making it a key driving force for reform and transformation.
A National Workforce Strategy
Recently the LGA and ADASS have been working with Adult Social Care leaders from the Care Provider Alliance (CPA), Care and Support Alliance (CSA), Skills for Care, Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and Think Local Act Personal (TLAP), employers, workers, inspectors and commissioners to offer a collective vision of what should be in a workforce strategy for the growing sector.
The leaders group believe that to build and develop a workforce which makes this vision a reality there are clear priorities which must be included in a national workforce strategy/people plan for adult social care. These priorities build on the improvement priorities that LGA, ADASS and Skills for Care have been working on with the sector over the past two years, following extensive engagement with councils, providers, partners and people with lived experience.
Partners in Care and Health work with councils to support the adult social care workforce in two priority areas:
Councils, working with providers and other partners, need to anticipate and respond effectively to the changing health and care needs of the population over time. A local workforce plan sets a direction of travel for an area, supporting places to develop new models of care and recognising that adult social care can be a key enabler to recovery by offering quality jobs with good opportunities. A workforce plan will be underpinned by credible data and intelligence that is used to drive delivery strategies and will crucially be informed by those with experience of using services.
Workforce modelling and capacity planning tool - we are testing and trialling a workforce modelling and capacity planning tool to support effective people planning. For more information and/or to get involved, please contact Amanda Whittaker-Brown
Integrated workforce thinking guide: This guide was produced in partnership with NHS Employers and Skills for Care, it provides tips and insight to help system leaders consider what is needed to plan for and achieve a successfully integrated workforce. The guide is aimed at ICS workforce leads, Chief People Officers, Directors of Adult Social Services, Chief Executives, HR Directors, elected members.
Case Studies:One Devon Partnership - Read how Devon ICS established the One Devon Partnership, integrating their workforce across the health and care system to transform care now and for future generations.
Place-based strategic commissioning of the adult social care workforce: We have worked with councils, care providers and people who direct their own support in the south east region to explore how well local care partners are working together to agree a collective vision and plan for a sufficient and skilled workforce to meet local people’s care and support needs in the short, medium and long term. Following a series of workshops and discussions we are moving into the second phase of this project which involves designing a co-produced framework which sets out what good place-based strategic commissioning of the adult social care workforce looks like.
Skills for Care ASC Workforce data set:Skills for Care ASC Workforce data set can support you in developing data-led policy and delivery and evaluating the effectiveness of previous policies.
Putting people at the centre of their care: A new infographic shows the challenges an individual can face in health and care and how integrated workforce thinking can have a positive impact on their life.
Councils and employers maximise opportunities to grow an inclusive, diverse and satisfied workforce by understanding and addressing recruitment and retention challenges and sharing evidence of what works.
I am supported by people who see me as a unique person with strengths, abilities, and aspirations."
Overseas Recruitment - While not a panacea to recruitment challenges, overseas recruitment can be an effective way of boosting the overall recruitment into the sector. Employers have also stated that overseas recruitment can offer access to high-quality candidates, improved retention rates and a strong future supply chain. Resources to support you in thinking about overseas recruitment include:
Wellbeing: The health and wellbeing of the social care workforce are all important factors in ensuring that people with care and support needs and their families receive good quality care and are supported and enabled to live as independently as possible. Improved mental health and wellbeing for the workforce is an end in itself. It is important that people are happy and healthy in their roles. Resources to support you include:
Survey of employers of Personal Assistants:The Forgotten Workforce - A Survey of Employers of Personal Assistants (PAs) PAs play a vital role in supporting people to have choice and control in their lives but are too often 'forgotten' within the wider social care workforce. A survey by Think Local Act Personal (TLAP) and the Local Government Association reveals that people who draw on care and support are finding it very hard to recruit and retain personal assistants (PAs), and that this worsened during the pandemic. The Report includes recommendations for councils and central government aimed at reducing the barriers to people joining the Personal Assistant workforce and how best to support people with a direct payment who wish to employ or contract with a PA.
Career Academy: Care and Health Career Academies support areas to think differently about workforce issues and support the workforce pipeline, boosting recruitment and retention, and support workforce development. The Care and Health Career Academy toolkit provides a guide that supports areas in understanding career academies, and how to set them up by considering initial design, set-up and keeping an academy going.
Digital Technology: The digital and technology literacy of the workforce can have multiple benefits that support the sector. It can increase the productivity of the workforce to better meet demand. It can also help the development of the workforce and therefore support workforce retention.
Other recruitment and retention resources: PCH has a host of other resources dedicated to supporting councils and the wider sector in recruiting and retaining the workforce This includes:
Top Tips for Retention Guide: Partners in Care and Health worked with Skills for Care to produce top tips to support the implementation of staff retention measures as part of a webpage on the Skills for Care website. The information and tips are aimed at senior officers, employers or councillors with an interest in the adult social care workforce.
Alleviating Winter Workforce Pressures in Adult Social Care: Partners in Care and Health worked with partners to conduct a rapid piece of work undertaken during October - November 2021 to compile a list of things that providers say could be most helpful in alleviating workforce capacity pressures this winter.
Social Work Health Check: The employer standards health check was launched in 2020 on behalf of the social work profession and is conducted annually. The purpose is to better understand the experience of social workers.
Supporting Adults with a Learning Disability: The aim of the framework is to help directors of adult social services work with their colleagues and partners to identify how they can improve how they support adults with a learning disability and how they can be assured that the care and support in their area is good value for money.
