Priory highlights “significant progress” in recruitment following release of social care workforce report
Date: 10th October 2024
PRESS RELEASE
Adult social care workforce development body Skills for Care released its latest State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce in England report last week (10 October).
The report follows the launch of Skills for Care’s new Workforce Strategy for adult social care which was published in July 2024.
The Strategy aims to improve the quality of social care roles, ensuring that the sector can attract and keep enough people with the right skills and values to provide the best possible care and support.
It highlights how the sector wants to work with the government as it develops its plans for social care, and followed the publication of Priory’s manifesto which outlined a number of key priorities for the government around social care.
Jayne Stutt, chief people officer at Priory, said: “This report highlights both positives and ongoing challenges for recruitment in the adult social care sector.
“At Priory we have made significant progress in terms of recruitment and turnover over the past two years, with our vacancy rate and agency usage declining as we have grown our permanent workforce by nearly 2,000 full-time equivalents over that period.
“Our turnover has reduced by 19% in the last year and by 32% over the course of the last two years, with our minimum rate of pay for all roles now at £12 which is equivalent to the current Real Living Wage outside of London.
"We are passionate about promoting care as a career and fair pay and the formalisation of career pathways is essential to attracting and keeping people in adult social care roles.
"In addition to increasing our minimum rates of pay, we have established clear career pathways by identifying and standardising the responsibilities and skills needed for individual roles.
“We have also worked hard to ensure training and development is in place to support colleagues to move to the next level and, in addition to upwards progression into more senior roles, we are also providing opportunities for colleagues to develop specialisms in their existing roles and broaden their knowledge base which will be integral to enhancing the skills of the sector. This is something our CEO Rebekah Cresswell discussed with Sir David Pearson, Chair of the Skills for Care, Workforce Strategy Development Group.
“We have also invested in our leadership development, recently gaining Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) accreditation for our bespoke management and leadership training.
"Recognition of the wider issues that exist across the sector is essential to delivering change and that is why the focus Skills for Care is placing on the issues is so valuable.
“We look forward to continuing to collaborate with partners across health and social care to offer insight and support that will help ensure a sustainable future for those working in the sector and a more effective, caring and compassionate system for everyone."
ENDS
Contact: [email protected]
About Priory and MEDIAN Group
Priory is the UK’s largest independent provider of mental health and adult social care services. Priory treats more than 70 conditions, including depression, anxiety, addictions and eating disorders, as well as children’s mental health, across its nationwide network of sites. Priory also supports autistic adults and adults with a learning disability, Prader-Willi Syndrome and brain injuries, as well as older people, within specialist residential care and supported living facilities – helping as many people as possible to live their lives.
Priory is part of the MEDIAN Group, the leading European provider of high-quality mental health and rehabilitation services. The MEDIAN Group comprises: Priory in the UK with 290 facilities and 5,000 beds caring for 28,000 people, MEDIAN in Germany with 120 facilities and 20,000 beds caring for around 250,000 patients, and Hestia in Spain with 15 facilities and 2,100 beds caring for 11,000 people in Spain, with more than 29,000 employees across the group.