Workforce strategies for care providers: Future of Care roundtable report

As the adult social care sector experiences higher vacancy rates than the national average, the need for care providers to have strategic foresight and robust workforce planning becomes ever more critical. 

Future of Care series

Browne Jacobson’s employment and HR services teams for health and social care hosted a roundtable event to discuss the future of the care workforce to establish recommendations for providers to consider and adopt.

Part of a series exploring the Future of Care, we brought together CEOs from leading independent residential care homes and from domiciliary care providers, alongside prominent leaders from sector-aligned charities and advisers, as well as the NHS. 

The discussion focused on the first-ever Workforce Strategy for Adult Social Care in England by Skills for Care, which was published in July 2024.

The aim of the strategy is to “ensure that 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.”

It sets out the vision and direction for the sector for the short and longer term under three headings:

• Train
• Attract and retain
• Transform

While Skills for Care’s workforce strategy sets out policy recommendations at a macro level, it’s vital that care providers are developing their own workforce strategies to ensure they can continue to deliver high-quality care over the coming decades.

This requirement has been reinforced by the government’s immigration white paper, which proposes to restrict care visas for overseas workers, who represent a significant proportion of the health and care workforce. 

Skills for Care data shows the number of people working in the sector rose by 92,400 between 2021/22 and 2023/24. This was driven entirely by an increase in staff from outside the UK and European Economic Area – a cohort that rose by 161,400, compared to a decline of 62,400 among British staff.

Through the prism of workforce development, the primary goal of this roundtable was to foster a spirit of collaboration, allowing a free flow of insights and knowledge concerning workforce practices at organisational level. 

This report summarises the shared challenges facing the sector and spotlights innovative ideas for developing sustainable talent pipelines. 

It aims to inspire other care providers to either adapt or initiate their own workforce strategies, while supporting collaborative working towards common goals, to ensure the sector has access to the people and skills needed to make it fit for the future. 

Laura Chinyere-Ezeh, HR Consultant specialising in health and social care, and Helen Badger, Partner in employment, at Browne Jacobson, would like to thank all the participants, including Karolina Gerlich, of the Care Workers Charity; Rebecca Smith, of NHS Employers; Rick Canavan, of BA Healthcare; Shirley Hall, of Royal Star & Garter; Susanne Chatterley, of Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust; Vishal Shah, of Banyan Care; for their time, energy, and honesty during the discussions.