Social care and support providers in Scotland are finding it hard to recruit and keep staff with many workers choosing to leave the sector, according to the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS).
Its research discovered an average of 52% of staff who moved jobs last year left social care, while almost three quarters of organisations reported a high staff turnover between 2021 and 2022.
A total of 73% of organisations delivering social care said staff turnover had increased by 14% between 2020 and 2021.
CCPS and the HR Voluntary Sector Forum (HRVSF) commissioned the University of Strathclyde to conduct the survey and analysis for member organisations.
Rachel Cackett, chief executive of CCPS, said: “The headline results of this benchmarking survey are stark and confirm what our provider organisations have been telling us over the past year: retention and recruitment of staff is the dominant issue in a sector that is under intense pressure.
“It’s a situation that has only worsened since this data for 2022 was captured, as differences in pay between not-for-profit social care providers and the public sector have widened yet further.
“This report points to an exit of staff across organisations, resulting in a loss of current expertise; a loss of potential talent; and a massive undermining of key services.
“It’s a loss that has an impact on achieving what we all want to see: people thriving by getting the support they need at the right times and in the right places, with consistent relationships at the heart of that support.”
She added: “This is the reason we’ve launched our 4 Steps to Fair Work campaign, which calls on the Scottish Government to take the measures long needed to deliver on investment and reform and set the sector on the route to fair work.
“We want to see social care organisations hold on to their workforce, to have the resources to develop their people – and for their staff to finally be fairly recognised and rewarded for their public service.”
The study also found the average turnover across respondents was 25% – an increase of 5.5% from the 2020-2021 figure.
Almost three in five (59%) of respondents said they are relying on agency staff in order to provide necessary care for clients.
This is an increase from 45% the previous year.
A total 81% of respondents reported their recruitment needs were higher than the previous year, up 6% from the 2020-2021 report.
Nearly half (46%) of respondents reported they expect recruitment will continually become more difficult, with 54% projecting the same difficulty.
HRVSF chair Kevin Staunton said: “For years our sector has heard many warm words about parity of esteem and being seen as an equal and key partner in the delivery of social care in Scotland.
“This report, building on previous years’ results, provides a strong and indisputable evidence base that the reality our people experience on a day-to-day basis is very much different and the sector cannot continue to operate on the goodwill and unfulfilled aspirations of our workforce indefinitely.
“I hope that in a year’s time positive progress has been made to make the investment and reform which has often been spoken about become a reality.
“Our forum members welcome the opportunity to work positively with others to make this happen. The people we support and the people our organisations employ deserve better.”
The Scottish Government was contacted for comment.
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