Ben Weatherall, co-founder and director of Curam, looks at what local authorities can do to fix the care sector’s recruitment and retention issue.

This year’s King’s Fund Report found that the current vacancy rate in England’s adult social care sector is 9.9%, or 152,000 vacancies, which is the second-highest rate since data collection began.

For local authorities, this presents a serious problem. As the UK’s population is ageing, unfilled posts will become even more prevalent, making it harder for councils to source enough carers for their residents. It has been predicted that the sector will need to recruit a further 540,000 carers by 2040 to support people living longer.

Clearly, recruitment and retention efforts need to be ramped up in the care sector. The solution for local authorities lies in seeking out providers that inject value and viability into a career path that has long been neglected, undervalued and underappreciated.

The current challenge

Providing care is a mentally and physically demanding job, but this is typically not reflected in pay, creating the biggest barrier to retention in the sector. Caring is also highly vocational, yet many personal assistants (PAs) don’t have access to training to help them develop their skills and progress in their careers, which in turn negatively impacts the overall quality of care being provided.

These factors together make working in the care sector unsustainable to pursue as a long-term career, which is why retention is such as major issue.

Despite the National Living Wage currently sitting at £11.44 an hour, the median hourly pay in March 2023 for a Care Professional in England was £10.11 – a 35p per hour real terms pay cut from the previous year. PAs also incur costs such as fuel for travelling between clients which are often not reimbursed.

Comparatively, Amazon Warehouse employees are paid the National Living Wage on average and have access to Career Choice skills-based programmes that allow them to progress their careers into higher-paying roles. Career progression within healthcare, on the other hand, is limited, with just 2% of the NHS workforce in managerial positions, versus 9.5% in the overall workforce. As a result, it is common to see people leaving the care sector to pursue greater earning and career development opportunities in sectors such as retail.

A third blocker to recruitment and retention in the care sector is the working conditions of an overstretched system. Those working for agencies tend to have little control over their working lives, including the hours they work or with whom. With so many vacant positions, quality of care is impacted as one Care Professional may have too many clients for their capacity, leading to rushed visits and overworked staff.

Challenging the status quo

With overstretched and undervalued current industry standards, local authorities must review their acquisition routes to find providers that are focused on developing and delivering true Care Professionals – experienced, trained, passionate people who are paid fairly and treated appropriately for their important role.

This is only possible with innovation and technology that removes the overheads of traditional agencies to release funds to be reinvested into Care Professionals through higher pay and training opportunities. Care Professionals who operate through online platforms earn on average £5 an hour more than carers working through agencies, while also costing an average of £10 per hour less for local authorities.

Another route where saved operational value can be returned is through online training modules for career development, such as infection control awareness and emergency first aid. Care Professionals set their own rates and more experience justifies higher fees, incentivising them to continually learn and develop.

The result of the joint power of fair pay and progression is a career that is attractive in the long term for newcomers to the industry and established Professionals alike. Well-paid and trained Care Professionals have 10 years of experience under their belt, whereas the wider industry average is just two years.

Councils in Sunderland and North Yorkshire that are prioritising sourcing Care Professionals through online platforms for their residents have attracted former nurses from the area back into a career in caring. As such, they can provide high-quality, affordable care to more people who need it.

Working conditions reflect quality of care

As well as more experience, Care Professionals have greater flexibility and control over their working lives, which allows them to provide better care to their communities. This control over their schedules allows Care Professionals to decide the hours they work, where and with whom. This increases job satisfaction, retention and the overall standard of work. As people are looking increasingly for flexible working, this also helps attract new recruits to the sector.

Technological innovation further supports flexibility, work-life balance and higher standards of care. Video conferencing software means that, when appropriate, Care Professionals can offer a hybrid of video visits and in-person visits to be more efficient and have more time to make an impactful difference when in their clients’ homes.

Adding value with choice and control

Recruitment and retention in the care sector is problematic for local authorities now and threatens to be even more so in the future if the issue isn’t addressed.

As councils provide long and short-term social care to over a million people each year, they are in a position to help restore greater stability and capacity to the sector by working with providers committed to releasing value and returning it to Care Professionals.