£500m for care staff – but none of it for pay

The government has announced £500m of funding from the new Health and Social Care Levy to improve adult care staff recruitment and retention – but none of it is earmarked to boost pay rates.

The Department for Health and Social Care has announced it is investing half a billion pounds into measures including:

• A knowledge and skills framework, career pathways and linked investment for learning and development to support progression for care workers and registered managers
• Funding for Care Certificates, alongside work to ensure care workers do not need to repeat the Care Certificate when moving roles
• Continuous professional development budgets for registered nurses, nursing associates, occupational therapists and other allied health professionals
• Investment in social worker training
• Initiatives to provide wellbeing and mental health support and improve access to occupational health to support staff resilience and recovery following the pandemic
• A new digital hub for the workforce to access support, information and advice, and a portable record of learning and development
• New policies to identify and support best recruitment practices locally
• Exploration of new national and local policies to ensure consistent implementation, as well as higher standards of employment and care provided

Minister for Care and Mental Health Gillian Keegan said: ‘As we recover from Covid, we must look to the future and to reform – this £500 million package of support will boost workforce recruitment, allow staff to progress in their careers in the sector and very importantly, ensure staff wellbeing is better supported.

‘The type of genuinely transformational change cannot be accomplished overnight. We know staff will need continued support, but we hope this package will level up opportunities for current and future social care staff.’

The Independent Care Group (ICG), which represents private and voluntary sector care providers, welcomed the investment but warned that more funding was needed to raise staff pay and encourage people to join.

ICG chair Mike Padgham said: ‘What we really need to see is a huge proportion of the Health and Social Care Levy invested in helping local authorities to pay providers a true, honest and accurate price for the care they deliver.

‘Then we might, as care providers, be in a position to pay staff what they deserve and create a sector in which people can make a real difference to other people’s lives but be paid a fair wage for doing so.

‘At the moment, that isn’t possible and so whilst the announcement of this fund is very positive, it doesn’t address the fundamental issue of attracting people to work in our sector instead of working elsewhere.’

Photo by Luis Melendez