K Low Consulting’s Post

The population of older adults aged 80 and above is rising in the UK. So, it’s no surprise to see a growing demand for adult social care, as per a report by The Kings Fund. The only problem? The workforce is unable to keep up with the demand. Last year, there were 152,000 unoccupied adult social care vacancies. The vacancy rate sits at 9%. For context, the UK average is 3.4%. The solution to the problem lies in institutional changes that make adult social care a viable and long-term career option. The sector needs to address the issues of low pay and challenging working environments. Although international recruitment has been healthy, the problem persists. In any case, relying on talent from abroad is a band-aid solution. With growing international competition and the fact that international workers are no longer allowed to bring their dependents to the UK, this country is becoming a less favourable option. Read the full breakdown by The King's Fund's Saoirse Mallorie.

The interdependence with acute NHS services means this is a crisis to effect all

Demand for adult social care is growing, but the workforce is not keeping pace with this demand. In 2022/23, there were 1.79 million adult social care roles..... https://lnkd.in/eMZXuDgX

The proportion of international staff working in social care has steadily increased over the years, with international staff making up 1 in 5 workers in the sector in 2022/23. Dive deeper into the adult #SocialCare workforce stats in our nutshell 📊

🌹 Ray Jones at Community Care reports on Labour's 13-year period in office and the impact of its focus on performance and targets on child outcomes and sector morale. 🎯 Thatcher's focus on 'value for money' was replaced by Labour's assessment of 'best value', with a broader focus on areas such as community engagement and impact. 📝 A new infrastructure for monitoring and supporting social care was introduced in England and largely copied in the devolved nations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. This comprised a national inspectorate (initially, the National Care Standards Commission), a national regulator for social workers (the General Social Care Council) and a body to develop the workforce (Skills for Care). #adultsocialcare #labourgovernment #regulation https://lnkd.in/eSNJwkbb

🚨 Anushka Asthana at ITV reports on new findings that almost a third of councils are no longer confident they can meet their statutory duties to provide basic levels of adult social care. This comes from a Local Government Association (LGA) survey. 📉 The research suggests that just eight per cent are confident about meeting their statutory duties for 2025/26 - down from 27 per cent when looking ahead towards this year, 2024/25. The fears about social care come despite eight in ten councils having to cut spending on other community services such as parks, libraries, and leisure centres to try to protect care funding. 💰 The end result of this funding crisis is that many people in desperate need of care cannot get it, with visits being cancelled or shortened over many years. Recruiting and retaining care workers is another considerable challenge, which, in the short term, hasn’t been made easier by new rules restricting care dependants from coming into the UK on care visas. This has already significantly impacted the number of foreign workers entering the sector. #adultsocialcare #councils #carecrisis https://lnkd.in/ebdN4NSJ

🚨 David Oliver at Byline Times reports on the public's record dissatisfaction with the state of the NHS and social care. The Skills for Care report on the sector showed that 1 in 10 posts were unfilled, and severe problems existed with staff retention due to poor pay, conditions, and support.   🛂 These problems are exacerbated by the recent tightening of immigration rules for care workers coming from abroad. Revealingly, staff experience figures are, like public satisfaction, also at an all-time low.   💡 Improving the morale of social care staff is pivotal to enhancing retention and addressing workforce shortages, ultimately playing a crucial role in resolving the ongoing crisis in the sector. #adultsocialcare #carecrisis #shortages https://lnkd.in/esmFnSaf

Report finds adult social care lacking good pay and working conditions Research reveals issues in England’s care worker pay and employment https://lnkd.in/e4vjHMK2

There are nearly 1.8 million roles in adult social care, but the sector has high vacancies and high turnover of staff. Find out more about the facts and figures that makeup the adult social care sector in our nutshell. https://lnkd.in/dEP4b9aG

British Association of Social Workers British Association of Social Workers 27,998 followers 27,998 followers 43m •  43m • 🚀 BASW Launches Manifesto for Social Work 🚀 Today, we’re setting out 4⃣0⃣ ambitious, but necessary, asks of the next UK Government to improve social work and social care, working conditions, and people’s lives. 📌 Our manifesto will be the lynchpin for our campaigning over the next five years. From tackling poverty to scrapping anti-immigration laws, reforming mental health legislation to better funding children’s social care, and introducing a nationwide social work workforce strategy and review into caseloads. ⏱️ It’s time to get it right. For our profession, for the people we support, for our society. We will be urging all political parties to adopt our policies as their own and, crucially, will be holding them to account in the next parliament to ensure they get delivered. With the General Election coming up fast, our public sector services need to be well apprised of the hopes & opportunities for #socialcare & #socialwork to be all, enhancing lives and building a better future and a more sustainable way forward 📲 View, download and share our manifesto with your MP and prospective candidates ahead of #GE24 Find out more ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eKuG9CKq …see more Activate to view larger image,