87% of Healthcare and Care Sector Organisations Struggling with Staff Shortages Amid Changing Regulation

According to a recent WorkNest poll, an alarming 87% of care and healthcare providers admitted that their organisations are currently struggling with staff shortages, and 36% of those admitted that these shortages are compromising the quality of service they can deliver.

With staff shortages at the height of their worries, care and healthcare providers would rather not also have to deal with adapting to recent changes to the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) new framework, which is yet to be fully announced. These staff shortages could not have come at a worse time. But unfortunately, it is only exacerbating the problem.

Nevertheless, 77% of care and healthcare professionals believe recruitment challenges are the most significant driver behind staff shortages in the sector. What makes matters worse is that over half (58%) admitted they are experiencing issues with staff performance.

While addressing performance management issues is crucial for any healthcare organisation, a quarter (25%) of respondents aren’t addressing performance concerns because they are understaffed or don’t know how to.

Toyah Marshall, Principal Employment Law Adviser and Solicitor at WorkNest, said:
“This is truly a challenging time for care and healthcare providers. But addressing recruitment challenges by upskilling the workforce, offering learning and development opportunities and supporting employees with their physical and mental wellbeing is critical.

“When skills shortages and recruitment challenges occur, the rest of the employees in the team are affected, which ultimately causes burnout, stress, poor mental health, poor performance and even further resignations. Training employees on the importance of compliance, embedding it into their daily operations and reducing manual processes can ensure they are fulfilling their duties with the best care quality and minimise the likelihood of affecting their performance.

“Care and healthcare leaders can ensure their teams are present and performing by creating a culture of putting quality and patient care first. In addition, leaders must regularly connect with staff members to address their concerns with tasks and support them through performance or wellbeing-related issues.”