An £600m scheme designed to help with recruitment and retention in social care has been unveiled by the government.
Ministers said the fund would support the social care workforce and boost capacity in social care, in turn supporting the NHS ahead of winter and through into next year, but the NHS Federation has warned that, although welcome, the funding was no substitute for a long-term plan to solve social care’s workforce problems.
The government said it was encouraging local health and care bodies to prepare jointly for the winter months earlier this year, increasing resilience and preparedness for seasonal viruses such as flu or Covid.
The £600m funding will include a £570m workforce fund over two years, distributed to local authorities, and £30m funding for local authorities in the most challenged health systems. This funding follows the social care workforce reforms announced earlier this year – which were criticised for the lack of funding for the workforce – and, ministers said, would work alongside the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan “to build a stronger overall foundation for the health and social care workforce”.
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The government said the aim of the funding was to improve recruitment and retention, boost workforce capacity and ensure a “sustainable social care workforce fit for the future”.
Minister for Care Helen Whately said: “Care workers deserve a brighter spotlight to recognise and support what they do.
“Our workforce reforms will help more people pursue rewarding careers in social care with nationally recognised qualifications.
“ Our investment in social care means more funding to go to the front line. This matters because support for our care workforce is the key to more care and better care.”
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of NHS Confederation, said the new money would help bridge some of those gaps in the social care workforce, helping reduce pressure both in hospitals and communities as well as improving care for patients.
But he added, social care budgets had been “below what is needed for a very long time” and there was still a “desperate need for a long-term social care workforce plan” similar to the recently published NHS workforce plan.
“Health leaders will look forward to seeing the funding put to good use especially as they plan for winter, but without a long-term workforce plan for social care, vacancy gaps and supporting hospital discharge will be an ongoing issue that will never fully be resolved. We urge the government to set out this plan, so staff and patients alike can feel supported in their communities for the years to come.”
Oonagh Smyth, CEO of Skills for Care, the strategic workforce development and planning body for adult social care in England, said improving services would significantly improve matters for the workforce: “Support for local authorities to improve capacity in social care will help ensure that we can attract and keep more of the right people with the right skills. This is vitally important because our latest figures show that there were around 152,000 vacancies on any given day in 2022-23.”
Unison assistant general secretary Jon Richards said: “A cash injection might offer temporary relief to the woefully underfunded and broken care sector, but it does nothing to address its huge problems. Without a long-term plan to solve care’s staffing crisis, the sector will remain many thousands of employees short.
“The government must work with councils, unions and care employers to establish the national standards and funding arrangements that are desperately needed. Only a national care service, that’s fully integrated with the NHS and properly resourced, will be able to focus on ensuring people receive the care they need.”
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