CMM 14.9 Dec Jan 2017 LR

BREXIT AND SOCIAL CARE: WORKFORCE, RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION
>
SECTOR RESPONSE
As the country progresses towards Brexit, it is time for the
sector to take action.
Social and economic value
As well as health and social care coming together to workforce
plan, there needs to be parity of esteem and remuneration for
health and social care staff. Messages coming out about the
impact of Brexit on health need to include social care too. Social
care not only adds social value, it also adds to the UK economy,
Skills for Care estimates this to be £41.8bn per annum and it
needs to be communicated.
Also, it’s important that social care is seen as the highlyskilled
and hugely rewarding work it is. There is an unfair
conflation of low pay and low skill and, whilst many in the
sector are paid minimum wage, this is a highly-skilled workforce
undertaking complex work. It is also a hugely fulfilling role and
we need to change public perception of the reality of working in
social care.
Public understanding of social care
One way of raising awareness of social care could be to create
a sector brand. This would enable it to be recognised widely
and come together to share its values, potential and pathways
for employees. We then need to communicate this. Social care,
unfortunately, competes with the NHS which has a worldrenowned
brand. However, social care offers as much potential,
it just isn’t as understood by the public. Providers need to work
together to develop a recognisable brand for the sector, to help
address issues around workforce, funding and everything else
that is piling on the pressure.
When it comes to recruitment, the public’s understanding
of the NHS means that people understand what job roles are
on offer. They also have the NHS Health Careers platform which
makes it is easy to locate roles. In social care, it is more difficult,
there’s no central platform, people don’t know where an entry
level role can take them, or even the different types of providers
they could work for. It’s only those who have experience of
social care who truly understand it.
As a sector, we also need to inform children at a younger
age, advise and guide them on the benefits of working in social
care, make the most of what we have to offer – far beyond a
low-paid, hard work environment.
The sector also needs champions, people who can promote
the benefits of social care at all levels. This could be I Care…
Ambassadors going into schools or celebrities who have a
connection with the sector helping to raise the status amongst
media and wider public.
The NHS is held close to people’s hearts, the media may
knock it down, but it then builds it back up again. This rarely
happens with social care. Social care is generally presented
negatively, meaning people don’t see it for what it is, a fantastic
service that can support people to live their lives as they wish.
Changing the narrative of care work will also help to change
public perception. We need to tell people it’s fun, rewarding and
fulfilling; there are opportunities, there’s support, qualifications
and development.
Supporting managers and the workforce
We also need to support managers, they are crucial to this.
Good leaders make for good services, good managers make for
good teams. Focusing on supporting them will help everything
else fall into place. Recruiting the right people into an
organisation helps, but having the right management, creating
the right environment and nurturing their teams can help to
retain those workers and slow down the sector churn.
The sector needs to think differently about its workforce –
can we offer flexibility or job shares, can we make the most of
apprenticeships, what personal and professional development
can we offer that might not be into management, but could be
into other areas of the sector? Looking to more senior roles, can
we hire people who have retired early from the health service,
but who don’t want to stop working altogether just yet?
The sector also can’t shy away from the fact that we need
to think creatively about how care is delivered. If we don’t have
enough people to deliver care in a traditional sense, we need
to change the way we care. If younger people aren’t seeing
traditional care work as a future career path, what can we
do to change the pathway? We need to offer them different
opportunities that play to their strengths and interests. It is
time to set out a picture of what care will look like in the future
and work towards transforming the sector together.
There are opportunities out there if we think smart and look
at what we can do not only to attract staff, but to change care
delivery.
Other sectors’ response to Brexit
Finally, we need to look at how other sectors are tackling
workforce issues relating to Brexit, this will help us tackle ours.
Industries such as hospitality and retail have a high volume of
EU nationals; we must understand how they are tackling the
situation and adapt their approaches for social care.
VALUE OUR WORKERS
Most importantly, we need to support our current staff who are
EU nationals and tell them that they are valued members of
the sector. They are facing uncertainty and worry and will want
reassurance, whether that’s a letter of support or assistance
with becoming UK citizens if they so wish. We need to nurture
the staff we have while the future is uncertain.
CMM
CMM and NHG will be publishing a White Paper of potential solutions to the workforce issues arising from Brexit and the wider
recruitment and retention issues facing social care. Look out for it in a future issue of CMM.
24 CMM December 2017