Care minister launches recruitment campaign to address high levels of care vacancies

Care minister Caroline Dinenage has launched a government campaign to encourage more people to work in adult social care.

There are around 110,000 vacancies in adult social care in England, with staff turnover as high as 31 per cent, which equates to nearly 400,000 people leaving the care sector annually.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is launching a pilot campaign this month in Gloucestershire and Tyne and Wear. This is designed to look at the best ways of running a national campaign in early 2019.

The number of people aged 65 and over requiring round-the-clock care is projected to rise by over a third to more than one million during the next 20 years, according to Newcastle University and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Skills for Care said that in order to care for all these people, the adult social care workforce will need to increase by 40 per cent (650,000 jobs) by 2035.

Minister for Care, Caroline Dinenage said: “A career in adult social care is incredibly rewarding and care work is a hugely worthwhile vocation with over 100 different roles on offer. With a growing need for more care workers we want to support providers to recruit the best possible talent.

“Our new recruitment pilots will explore the most effective ways of doing this, to ensure we have a workforce fit for the future and able to meet the needs of some of society’s most vulnerable.”

Rhidian Hughes, chief executive of VODG (Voluntary Organisations Disability Group called the campaign a “very welcome initiative”, but added that the “underfunding of the sector, resulting in low wage rates, is a key policy issue that government must address in its long-awaited Green Paper”.

He said: “We know that as pay rates increase employers are much better placed to recruit and retain talent in what are incredibly important and rewarding roles.”

VODG carried out an analysis recently called ‘A stitch in time: the case for funding social care’ looking at the impact of sector underfunding on workforce recruitment and retention.

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