Two in five social care workers in Hounslow left their jobs last year

Two in five adult social care employees in Hounslow left the sector in the last year, according to new figures, as turnover across the country is "getting markedly worse".

Skills for Care charity, which estimates 400,000 people have left social care jobs across England, said the sector is facing complex challenges with a surge in demand impacting recruitment and retention.

The charity’s annual report found the country’s average turnover rate was 29% in the year to September.

Figures provided by the charity show Hounslow had a turnover rate of 39% across all adult social care services in 2021-22. Rates were especially high among care workers (51%) and direct care staff (45%).

Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK and co-chair of the Care and Support Alliance, said: “Recruitment and retention in social care have been difficult for some years but both now appear to be getting markedly worse. The main problem is pay: cash starved care simply can’t compete with the big supermarkets and online retailers on wages so committed staff are lured elsewhere."

Ms Abrahams added “there’s no avoiding" the need for improved pay and conditions within social care.

Skills for Care estimated that care workers with five years’ experience were paid just 7p per hour more than those with less than a year. It added the average care worker was paid less than £1 per hour less than new healthcare assistants in the NHS.

Oonagh Smyth, CEO of Skills for Care, said: “We must talk more about how rewarding social care is to work in so that we attract more people, and we must make it easier for the people who love working in social care to stay by improving terms and conditions and investing in their career development.”

She added 480,000 extra staff in social care will be needed by 2035 as 28% of the current workforce are aged 55 and over and may retire in the next decade.

The charity's annual report found England’s social care vacancy rate hit a record high of nearly 11% in the year to September 2022.

There were around 4,900 jobs available employees in Hounslow’s adult social care sector in 2021-22 – with roughly 4,400 of these posts filled.

London had the highest vacancy rate across England’s regions, at 13%.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We’re investing in adult social care and have made £500m available to support discharge from hospital into the community and bolster the workforce this winter, on top of record funding to support our ten-year plan set out in the People at the Heart of Care white paper."

They said "tens of thousands" of extra staff have joined since care workers were added to the Health and Care Worker visa and the Shortage Occupation list – a list a list of jobs in short supply which can be more easily filled by non-UK workers. They added a new domestic recruitment campaign will be launched.