One of the main priorities for councils is ensuring there is a social care workforce that is fit for the future, local authority leaders say as MPs warn of a health and social care workforce crisis.

A new report from the Health and Social Care Select Committee has warned that the NHS and social care face the greatest workforce crisis in their history, which is compounded by what the committee describes as an ‘absence of a credible Government strategy’ to tackle the situation.

The committee emphasised that more needed to be done to ensure the recruitment, training and retention of health and social care staff. It estimated that an extra 475,000 jobs and an extra 490,000 jobs will be needed in health and social care respectively by the early part of the next decade.

Health and social care committee chair Jeremy Hunt said: ‘Persistent understaffing in the NHS poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety, a situation compounded by the absence of a long term plan by the government to tackle it.

‘We now face the greatest workforce crisis in history in the NHS and in social care with still no idea of the number of additional doctors, nurses and other professionals we actually need.

‘NHS professionals know there is no silver bullet to solve this problem but we should at least be giving them comfort that a plan is in place. This must be a top priority for the new Prime Minister.’

Responding to the report, Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Community Wellbeing Board commented: ‘The social care workforce is under considerable pressure and one of the biggest challenges and priorities for councils is ensuring we have a workforce fit for both the here and now and the future.

‘The future requirements of and for the social care workforce should be a far more prominent consideration for Government, both as a standalone priority and in respect of its links with NHS workforce planning. As this report makes clear, there is still a long way to go.

‘It is vital that we are able to match the skills and ambitions of our future workforce with the aspirations of people who draw on care and support.

‘Urgent action is also needed to address the current recruitment and retention crisis in social care, including on pay, conditions, skills and training.’