Act now on care staff vacancies, ICG urges Govt

THE Government must act quickly to help fill vacancies in the social care workforce to avoid thousands more people going without the care they need, The ICG warned today.

The ICG has called on the Government to give social care staff parity of pay with their NHS counterparts and to urgently bring forward its promised care workforce plan to help recruit staff.

The call comes after a new report warned that social care continues to face problems in recruiting and retaining staff.

Skills for Care says the past year saw a growth in the social care workforce to 1.71m people and the number of vacancies fell to 131,000 – mainly due to a rise in international recruits during 2023-24.

But the State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce in England report warns that since April the number of international recruits has begun to fall and that British staff recruitment is falling too

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “On the face of it there is much to feel positive about in this latest Skills for Care report as the workforce is growing, vacancies are falling and staff turnover is falling too.

“But I fear the report might give a slightly misleading impression and some more recent data in the report and underlying trends do give us great cause for concern, particularly when it comes to future recruitment.

“The previous Government discouraged overseas recruitment by banning care workers from bringing over dependents, so overseas recruitment is, as the latest statistics show, starting to fall back dramatically – Skills for Care says by two thirds for the first quarter of this financial year. Some overseas staff, who came on three-years visas, may soon be going back.

“And since March 2022 the number of British workers has fallen by 70,000. With overseas and British recruitment falling the result can only be one thing – a future shortage of care workers to meet demand.

“Only last month, Age UK reported that the number of people living without the care they need had topped 2m for the first time. And we know that such demand is going to rise and rise – estimates suggest we’ll need an extra 540,000 care workers by 2040.

“Given what Skills for Care reports today – where are these extra recruits going to come from?”

He says the Government has to bring forward its care workforce plan and with it a way to pay the social care workforce on a par with the NHS so that providers can recruit British staff to fill vacancies and start meeting unmet demand.

“We need to rethink the whole social care workforce proposition and see the sector as an economic driver for the country,” Mr Padgham added. “Today’s report from Skills for Care reveals that 1.7m people work in the sector and that social care contributes £68.1bn to the England economy. With the right investment, the sector could contribute even more, start to meet unmet demand and get in shape for the extra demand that is heading our way.

“Without that preparation, we will see a dire shortage of care workers and the number of people going without care rise well above that 2m.”

'Work with us to solve care crisis', ICG Chair urges minister

ICG Chair Mike Padgham urged Social Care Minister Stephen Kinnock to work with providers to tackle the ongoing crisis in social care when they met yesterday. 

Mr Padgham met Mr Kinnock in Westminster for “constructive” talks and came away optimistic.

“I was encouraged that the minister listened and very clearly knew that social care is facing some very serious challenges and that something needs to be done,” he said.

“I believe there is an intent for improvement, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating and time will tell.”

The pair discussed improving care staff pay, reforming social care commissioning so that a fairer price is paid for care and reforming the Care Quality Commission so that duplication of inspection was avoided.They also discussed how the Government should work with social care providers to tackle issues facing the sector.

“I said the Government needs to embrace the knowledge and expertise that is available in the sector, as we all understand that it cannot solve all the problems itself,” Mr Padgham added.

“I began by inviting the minister up to North Yorkshire to see first-hand some of the challenges that face care providers on a day-to-day basis.

“I also acknowledged that the social care sector has to get its own act together, not least by addressing the number of representative bodies we have and ensuring we speak with one, coherent and consistent voice.

“I also stressed to him how important it was that social care had a voice on the Integrated Care Boards so that providers and commissioners work together to deliver care.”

Mr Padgham pointed out that social care contributes £55.7bn to the England economy and employs more than 1.6m people.

“The sector could contribute and employ considerably more if resources were switched from the NHS to support social care,” Mr Padgham added. “Skills for Care research suggested an extra £6.1bn invested in social care would provide economic benefits of £10.7bn – for every £1 invested, a return of £1.75.”

The meeting came amidst concerns after the number of people living without the care they need topped 2m for the first time.

Mr Padgham presented the minister with a document setting out three urgent reforms needed to tackle the crisis in adult social care.

These include switching resources from the NHS into social care to address a chronic lack of available care, reforming pay and conditions for the social care workforce to tackle a 131,000 shortage and reforming social care commissioning to make it fairer for providers.

Mr Padgham shared with the Minister a copy of the document Building Capacity and Partnership in Care, published by the Labour Government in 2001. In it, then Health Secretary Alan Milburn spoke of creating a partnership betweek government, providers and commissioners to create “excellent services that promote independence, self-esteem and social inclusion”.

“I said the Government would do well to revisit the Building Capacity document, as it offered so many sensible actions, but sadly too few were ever introduced,” Mr Padgham added.

Prior to the General Election, Mr Padgham endorsed the Labour candidate for Scarborough and Whitby, Alison Hume, who went on to win the seat at the July poll. She publicly backed calls for social care reform and the introduction of a National Care Service.

The ICG is campaigning for full-scale reform to social care.

It has published its Five Pillars of Social Care Reform document, which proposes ring-fencing a percentage of GDP for care, creating a National Care Service, setting a minimum carer wage, establishing a task force for reform and creating fair tariffs for services such as care beds and homecare visits.

The ICG argues that shifting funding from the NHS to social care would eventually save money by providing more preventative care in our local communities and keeping people out of hospital, helping to cut waiting lists.

picture shows Mr Padgham, left, with Social Care Minister, Stephen Kinnock, right.

Torrent of bad news on social care sends warning to Govt

A torrent of bad news on social care today sends a bleak weather warning to the Government on the urgent need for reform, the Independent Care Group said today.

Age UK has reported that the number of people living without the social care they need has jumped to 2m – up from 1.6m last year.

And there are reports from up and down the country of care provision being withdrawn due to financial cutbacks.

Today the ICG warned that the Government could not go on ignoring the crisis.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “Once again we have the bleakest of news on adult social care – a staggering 2m people who cannot get even the basic help they need to live a decent quality of life, a quality of life the rest of us take for granted.

“That is our mothers and fathers, brothers and sister, aunts and uncles and friends who are being denied the most basic of support – from help getting out of bed, getting washed to making a meal to higher levels of care. It is a scandal that shames us as a country.”

He said the Government “had made positive noises” about reforming social care but change wasn’t coming quickly enough.

“It clearly isn’t their priority,” Mr Padgham added. “One of the Government’s first decisions was to axe the proposed cap on care costs, which didn’t bode well.

“And for all the health secretary and the Prime Minister’s rhetoric on improving pay for care workers and reforming social care, we are yet to see any meaningful moves.”

The ICG’s warning comes alongside news of threats to care provision across the country.

East Sussex County Council is looking at shutting down day services and other cuts because of a lack of funding. And in York, nine day clubs for older people are to close after the local council withdrew support – again due to funding shortages.

Mr Padgham added: “As a matter of urgency we must get greater financial support to social care commissioners, like local authorities, who are currently having to cut back on care because they simply don’t have the money to provide or commission it any more.”

Earlier this month, a report commissioned by the new Government, by Lord Darzi, cited problems in social care as a contributing factor to the ongoing crisis in NHS healthcare.

Mr Padgham added: “This deluge of bad news continues and it comes on top of years and years of reports and warnings that adult social care was on the brink of collapse, failing to support the people it is there to support and unable to play its part, alongside NHS healthcare, in the care of our communities.

“The new Government has promised reform and we continue to give the administration the benefit of the doubt that it will deliver. Those of us in the sector have a great deal of knowledge on what needs to be done and are willing and able to offer that support to the Government and to work with them on solutions to the crisis.

“As today’s figures from Age UK show, we cannot wait much longer. People are going without care and no Government should sit by and watch that happen without taking urgent action to tackle it.”

The ICG welcomed today’s State of Health and Care of Older People report from Age UK. It concludes that the country is failing to cope with the needs of an increasing number of older people.

“It is good that the older population is growing and that is something that should be celebrated,” Mr Padgham added. “We need to create a society where we can embrace that and where people can live long and fulfilling lives, with the support that they need, when they need it.”

The ICG is campaigning for full-scale reform to social care.

It has published its Five Pillars of Social Care Reform document, which proposes ring-fencing a percentage of GDP for care, creating a National Care Service, setting a minimum carer wage, establishing a task force for reform and creating fair tariffs for services such as care beds and homecare visits.

The ICG argues that shifting funding from the NHS to social care would eventually save money by providing more preventative care in our local communities and keeping people out of hospital, helping to cut waiting lists.