Last Updated on February 5, 2024
Care England has launched a new end-to-end solution to aid issues arising from recruitment and retention for providers and local authorities.
Care England has partnered with four organisations – Care Character, Care Friends, Jobtrain and Vivup to create its new recruitment solution. Care England's new partnership sets out to offer a collective end-to-end solution to address the current sector-wide vacancy rate, the quality and development of carers, lower turnover rates and significantly reduce costs for providers.
Care England and Hft’s 2023 Sector Pulse Check report cited workforce costs as the most significant financial pressure for adult social care providers in 2023. The report found that staffing shortages are having a profound impact on the viability of care providing organisations, staff and the people we support – due to staffing shortages in 2023, 44% of adult social care providers turned down new admissions, over half (54%) increased agency use and 18% had to close services altogether.
Care England has also reported that these challenges are likely to be compounded by the introduction of new measures that will restrict the flow of international recruits into the sector.
Commenting on the launch of Care England's new recruitment solution, Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, said, 'The adult social care workforce remains in a deep-rooted and systemic crisis. In the absence of meaningful Government intervention, it is incumbent upon the sector to explore innovative solutions to support their workforce and open doors to new opportunities for staff.
'Care England is pleased to have developed a unique initiative to help bring more domestic staff into care roles and support them to remain in the sector. With a third of the workforce leaving their roles every year, at a cost of over £6,000 per rehire, there is an annual £3bn cost to the sector which is simply unsustainable. We hope that our end-to-end solution will go some way in supporting care providers to navigate workforce challenges.'
Will Shepherd, Chief Executive Officer at social care recruitment specialist, Cohesion, and Founder of Care Character, said, 'Recruitment and retention challenges in social care are deep rooted, presenting ongoing hurdles for care providers of all sizes and settings.
'At Care Character, we are proud to have developed a psychometric assessment tool tailored to the unique demands of the care sector, which is delivering positive transformations in both recruitment and retention. We are delighted to share a platform with other innovative organisations thanks to Care England’s determination to make a difference in this field, welcoming a comprehensive end-to-end solution that focuses on quality and results.'
Click here to read Care England's new recruitment solution in full.
In other news, councils across England will receive a £600m support package to help them deliver key services, the Levelling Up Secretary has announced.