26 PROFESSIONAL
Solutions to recruitment and retention issues in social care
Nurses in social care are under more pressure than ever , but certain important steps can be taken to help them work without burnout , write Suzie Bailey , Michael West and Ethan Williams of The King ’ s Fund
E ven before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic , the social care workforce was struggling to cope . There were 1.65 million jobs ( 1.16 million full-time equivalent ) in adult social care in England in 2019 / 20 . Though overall the workforce had been growing , registered nurses working in adult social care were the exception : there were 36,000 , which is 15,500 fewer than eight years previously . More than 12 % of posts were vacant and four in 10 nurses were leaving their posts in adult social care each year .
The levels of vacancies and turnover for nurses were highest across social care . The Care Quality Commission ( CQC ) has suggested that these workforce issues are a key factor in the relatively low-quality ratings received by nursing homes . This all suggests that staff were under enormous pressure , and that was before the pandemic struck .
We know relatively little about the impact of Covid-19 specifically on nurses in social care , but we might expect it to be similar to that felt by other social care staff . The CQC has described the intense pressure felt by social care staff as the pandemic took hold and the impact on their wellbeing .
Skills for Care has also reported that experienced staff are struggling to cope with the significant additional pressures . But in social care , there were additional issues for nurses specifically .
Workforce stress Professor Martin Green , chief executive of Care England , recently gave evidence to the Health and Social Care nursinginpractice . com Winter 2021