Welcome for £500m Care Workforce Boost

BUT CALL FOR BETTER PAY TO HELP RECRUIT STAFF

Care providers today (Tuesday) welcomed a £500m cash injection to help develop the social care workforce but called for better funding to encourage people to join the sector in the first place.

The Government today announced a £500m cash pot, as part of the Health and Social Care Levy, to improve staff recruitment, retention, progression and wellbeing.

Welcoming the announcement, the provider organization also warned that it addressed only one aspect of the staffing crisis in social care.

ICG Chair Mike Padgham said: “Any penny invested in social care is a penny invested in the furtherance of care of our oldest and most vulnerable and is to be welcomed.

“But what we really need to see is a huge proportion of the Health and Social Care Levy invested in helping local authorities to pay providers a true, honest and accurate price for the care they deliver.

“Then we might, as care providers, be in a position to pay staff what they deserve and create a sector in which people can make a real difference to other people’s lives but be paid a fair wage for doing so.

“At the moment, that isn’t possible and so whilst the announcement of this fund is very positive, it doesn’t address the fundamental issue of attracting people to work in our sector instead of working elsewhere.”

The ICG believes social care needs more investment and points to a report by LaingBuisson for the County Councils Network which said an extra £854m a year was needed.

“Investing in infrastructure and in staff progression and development is all very laudable, but what we need is the Government to invest more into social care so that our staff are as well rewarded, recognized and respected as those in the NHS – which at the moment they are not.

“Achieve that and you create a sector we can be proud of and which people will want to join. Then such investment in staff training, retention and development will be much more relevant.”