Skills for Care: A workforce strategy for adult social care in England

Summary

For the first time ever, the adult social care sector has come together, led by Skills for Care, to develop the Workforce Strategy it needs. Adult social care needs a workforce strategy to ensure we have enough of the right people with the right skills to provide the best possible care and support for the people who draw on it.

Content

Summary of recommendations

Attract and retain 

• Joined-up, consistent action on pay. Central government (lead) with local government, unions and employers.
• Consider the modelling in this Strategy in the Fair Cost of Care exercise. Central government with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and local government. We have modelled and costed three options for improving pay in the recommendations and commitments section. 
• A transition plan to increase domestic recruitment and reduce international recruitment.
• Continued funding to support ethical international recruitment. 
• Review the application of ethical recruitment.
• Regulator encouraging recruitment and retention plans.
• A 10-year attraction plan focusing on men, younger people and people with technical skills. 
• Support for individual employers. 
• A national programme to attract graduates and career changers. 
• Attract more social workers and occupational therapists with a clearer pathway and financial support for students. 
• Attract more registered nurses and nursing associates to social care and offer attractive career pathways to retain them.
• A People Promise for social care.
• Scope retention pilots in five ICS areas. 
• Regulator support for workforce wellbeing and equality, diversity and inclusion. 
• Create Workforce Strategy employer champions. 
• Retain more internationally educated registered nurses working in social care through pathways, support and regulation. 
• Implement the Social Care Workforce Race Equality Standard (SC-WRES).
• Improve wellbeing through guidance, training, NHS Health Checks, regulation and awareness-raising. 

Train 

• Regulator to signpost to what good looks like in learning development. 
• Expand skills through the Care Workforce Pathway. 
• Continue funding to support delegated health tasks.  
• Continue funding for new skills. DHSC.
• Develop leaders through a framework for Directors of Adult Social Services
• Streamline and communicate mandatory training requirements.
• Ensure level three competence for direct care staff. 
• Overhaul social care apprenticeships. 
• Ensure high-quality training in functional skills, digital, data and technology and AI. 
• Invest in training and developing social workers. 
• Invest in training and developing occupational therapists. 
• Invest in training and developing registered nurses working in social care.
• Develop managers through support, education and potential registration. 

Transform 

• Mandate workforce planning and strategy. 
• Create a responsibility for a central workforce body for the development and implementation of this and future workforce plans. 
• Investigate workforce registration. 
• Attract workers to social care in coastal and rural areas.
• Support ICS workforce planning. 
• Research on new roles for social care. 
• Expand digital skills training. 
• Pilot a new care technologist role. 
• Evaluation of current research priorities and funding in adult social care. 
• Adult Social Care to be prioritised by NICE.