Adult social care will continue to stagnate as it faces ‘intense pressure’ due to vacancy rates and ‘record’ demand, according to a think tank report.
The King’s Fund Social Care 360 report noted the workforce vacancy rate was at 152,000 in 2022/23. Though this is lower than in 2021/22 (165,000) the report said the sector was likely to face further workforce challenges given the government’s move to tighten the rules around overseas care workers, meaning they cannot bring dependents with them to the UK.
Despite a fall in nursing homes places in 2022/23, the report said the longer-term shift had been away from residential care to nursing care, which ‘might suggest that those people who do enter care homes have higher needs’.
However, it added the growth in nursing care was ‘surprising’ given that the number of registered nurses working in social care fell sharply from 51,000 in 2012/13 to 33,000 in 2022/23 – a drop of 35%.
Meanwhile, demand for social care is at a ‘record high’ of two million requests in 2022/23, according to the King’s Fund report. In 2021/22, this figure was 1.98 million.
The cost of care to local authorities continues to be above inflation with the average weekly fee for working-age adults and older people £1,540 and £840 respectively, compared to £1,400 and £670 in 2015/16.
The report did highlight that there was a slight increase in the number of adults receiving publicly funded social care in 2022/23 compared to the previous year, however the authors said this was likely due to a ‘correction’ after the Covid pandemic.
Lead author of the King’s Fund report and senior fellow, Simon Bottery, said: ‘For decades social care reform has been promised by governments but consistently dodged or delayed. The latest figures make clear that the sector is showing little sign of improvement, leaving thousands of people without the support they need.
‘There are severe financial pressures on local authorities, who fund adult social care, and no sign that national government will step in to help. Nor is there a credible longer-term plan to recruit and retain the staff needed.’
He called on the next government to make social care a priority given it ‘has never faced more profound problems, with record numbers of people requesting support’.
Responding to the report, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) director for England Patricia Marquis said the figures painted a picture of ‘a sector simply unable to meet the needs of an ageing population with increasingly complex needs’.
‘Low and uncompetitive pay is driving rampant workforce shortages, with skilled staff able to find better paying jobs in sectors outside of care,’ she said.
‘The number of registered nurses working in care has fallen by over a third in a decade, meaning there are fewer highly qualified, expert staff in all care settings. When this happens, patient safety is put at risk.’
She added: ‘As the number of domestic care staff has plummeted, international workers have stepped in, helping to prop up a system that has been undervalued and ignored by successive governments.
‘Ministers have now chosen to exacerbate the workforce crisis by preventing overseas care workers from bringing family members to the UK. This is political point scoring being prioritised over patient care.
‘As the general election approaches, parties vying to form the next government need to demonstrate they value care and bring forward robust plans to fix the crisis in the sector and ease the strain on the NHS and other health services.’
Ms Marquis said there was a desperate need for ‘fair, competitive pay, a strategy to boost recruitment into the domestic care workforce and support for migrant staff’ in social care, as well as ‘an iron-clad commitment to deliver long-term investment in the sector’.
A version of this article was first published by our sister title Healthcare Leader
