Last Updated on October 29, 2026
Awarding organisation and education charity NCFE has established the Health and Social Care Skills Collective to tackle workforce challenges. These ongoing workforce pressures include recruitment and retention challenges, changing skill needs and evolving models of care.
The collective comes amid wider calls across the care sector for a more sustainable approach to workforce development. Industry bodies including Skills for Care, the National Care Forum and the Social Care Institute for Excellence have highlighted the importance of learning and development, recognised qualifications and clearer career pathways in attracting and retaining staff.
The collective brings together workforce leaders, employers, educators, sector bodies, union representatives and people with lived experience to help shape the future of the health and social care workforce. Participants will explore how education, qualifications and workforce development can support the sector's future, with insights informing research, thought leadership, policy discussion and collaborative action.
The launch of the collective also coincides with the publication of its inaugural paper, From Recruitment to Workforce Sustainability: Building the Health and Social Care Workforce, which argues that the sector must move beyond a short-term focus on workforce shortages and adopt a more sustainable, long-term approach to workforce development.
The collective builds on NCFE's recent social care workforce report Staying, Leaving or Progressing?, which contains insights from more than 100 current and former care workers. The findings revealed a workforce committed to making a difference but facing growing pressures that continue to affect retention.
Commenting on the establishment of the Health and Social Care Skills Collective, Dr Jane Brightman, Trustee and Board Member at NCFE, says, ‘The health and social care workforce is fundamental to the health, wellbeing and independence of people and communities. Yet the sector faces persistent recruitment and retention pressures, changing models of care, rapidly evolving occupational roles and ongoing technological advancements.
‘Building a sustainable workforce requires more than filling vacancies: it requires a long-term approach to skills, careers, progression and professional development. As one of the UK’s leading assessment and awarding organisations serving health and social care, NCFE has a unique perspective on the role that technical and vocational education can play in developing the workforce.
‘Through the Health and Social Care Skills Collective, we bring together strategic workforce leaders, employers, educators, people drawing on health and care services, union representatives and sector organisations to consider how education and qualifications can better support the future of the sector.’
Meeting regularly across the year, the Health and Social Care Skills Collective aims to generate insight and recommendations to inform debate and support employers, educators and policymakers as they work towards a more resilient and sustainable health and social care workforce.
For more information about the Health and Social Care Skills Collective, visit www.ncfe.org.uk/sector-specialisms/health-and-healthcare-science/health-and-social-care-sector-skills-collective
In other news, Module 6 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has been published, examining the impact of the pandemic on the adult social care sector.