Our sector is facing the greatest workforce crisis in its history, with Skills for Care estimating that there are now over 165,000 vacancies in social care. When this is coupled with a vast shortage of nurses and doctors in the NHS, we are no longer just concerned about people having an acceptable quality of life - we are talking about key services being unsafe for use because there simply aren’t enough staff. All the while, demand has never been greater.
In the face of shocking statistics published by the Health and Social Care committee, it is clear that calls for revised funding have fallen on deaf ears. Growing issues with recruitment, training and retention have been foreseeable for years - it is hard to see this other than as wilful neglect. Those of us who have worked in the adult social care sector for a long time have seen similar situations before, but the problems have never been so acute.
Research published this year from Access Social Care’s annual State of the Nation report shows that calls from carers into helplines have increased by around 100 per cent compared to pre-pandemic times. I am also all too aware that social care providers simply cannot cope. In some cases, they are having to hand back contracts because they are unable to staff their services - we have heard from our member organisations that in some areas, the local authority won’t take back the contract as they are in a similarly desperate situation. The result being people in receipt of social care at risk of harm, an exhausted workforce, and further entrenched struggles with retention.
All of us will need social care at some point, either for ourselves or for a loved one. We are all being failed by the absence of a long-term sustainable workforce strategy that guarantees fair pay and recognition. The workforce plan promised by the Government in the spring has not yet been published and there is no guarantee it will be accurately substantiated by real numbers, which may then come in yet another report later this year.
Failure to address chronic underfunding of social care is a scandalous waste of taxpayer money. We currently sit in a false economy with very little consideration for the power of early intervention. Time and time again cuts are being made that ultimately lead to far costlier state intervention later down the line, and at times unlawful practice. I can’t help but feel our political class is letting us all down.
