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This webinar provided an opportunity to engage with the sector and share key findings and implications from the Retention and Sustainability of Social Care Workforce project (RESSCW) study. By examining the literature, existing data sources and collecting new information from social care workers and providers (e.g. surveys), the project findings fill an important evidence gap around staff stability and wellbeing in the adult social care sector in England. The presentation covered findings and policy implications from:

• A review of international literature on factors associated with retention of social care workforce;
• Empirical analysis of the Annual Population Survey (APS) on retention of care workers in adult social care compared to healthcare assistants in the NHS;
• Empirical analysis of job separations and sick leave of frontline staff using data from the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS);
• Empirical analysis of care establishments’ turnover, hiring and vacancy rates and their relationship with employment dynamics using ASC-WDS data;
• Secondary data analysis of retention and sick leave of Personal Assistants, using the Skills for Care Survey of Individual Employers and Personal Assistants; and
• Primary data analysis of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the retention and wellbeing of social care staff.

Click here to download the presentation slides from the webinar

View a recording of the webinar below

In this webinar the Retention and Sustainability of Social Care Workforce (RESSCW) research team presented findings from the first wave of their survey, which ran from April  to June 2021, that explored the various implications and cumulative impact of living and working through the COVID-19 pandemic on the workforce, organisations and the wider health and care systems.

The discussion covered:

1. The impact of COVID-19 on care workers’ general wellbeing, working conditions, and intentions to stay or leave the employer and/or sector;
2. How individual and work characteristics impact on workers’ experiences; and
3. Differences in the experiences by care settings, especially between domiciliary and residential care?

Click this text to download the slides of the presentation 

A recording will be available soon.

If you have any questions, please contact Grace Collins: g.collins@kent.ac.uk

This free webinar brought together researchers, providers, people who use services and their representatives or carers, policy makers, and regulators to discuss emerging evidence, innovation, and best practice for a sustainable social care workforce.

The webinar included presentations from the Retention and Sustainability of Social Care Workforce (RESSCW) project on what drives staff retention in Adult Social Care, how does Adult Social Care compare to other low wage sectors, the employment and retention of personal assistants, and best practice to reduce turnover.

Watch the webinar here: https://youtu.be/8l6NrjB-L68

You can also download copies of the presentations here:

• Workforce retention in social care and other low-wage labour markets by John Forth (Bayes Business School, City University)
• Determinants of staff turnover in Adult Social Care: an analysis from both worker and employer level perspective by Florin Vadean (PSSRU, University of Kent)
• Sick leave and retention of Personal Assistants by Stephen Allan (PSSRU, University of Kent)

In this webinar we learnt about early research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people who work in long-term care and discussed the ways in which the poor working conditions experienced by many workers in this sector (low pay, zero-hour contracts, no sick pay) may have affected the response to the pandemic. More info here

The presentation slides can be found here

1st Efficiency Research Programme (Round 3) Advisory Group meeting

The 3^rd round of the Health Foundation Efficiency Research Programme awarded grants to six project teams to conduct research with focus on retention of health and social care staff; one of the projects funded being Retention and Sustainability of Social Care Workforce (RESSCW). The first Advisory Group meeting took place on 10 October 2019 at the St Bride Foundation in London. The PIs of the six projects had the opportunity to discuss the methodological challenges faced by their respective projects with Anita Charlesworth (The Health Foundation), Candace Imison (Nursing and Midwifery Council), Heidi Grainger (Office for Manpower Economics), James Buchan (Queen Margaret University Edinburgh), Joe Hewton (The Health Foundation), Matthew Whittaker (Resolution Foundation), Peter Smith (Imperial College London; Chair), and Polly Pascoe (The Health Foundation). Dr Florin Vadean and Prof Shereen Hussein represented the RESSCW project. It was an excellent opportunity to share ideas with PIs from the other projects and receive valuable feedback from Advisory Group members. The Efficiency Research Programme Advisory Group will meet twice yearly during the lifetime of the projects, and provide expert input and guidance to support individual project teams. “Retention and Sustainability of Social Care Workforce (RESSCW)” is part of the Health Foundation’s Efficiency Research Programme. The Health Foundation is an independent charity committed to bringing about better health and health care for people in the UK.

https://www.health.org.uk/news-and-comment/newsletter-features/stemming-the-tide-retaining-the-social-care-workforce

On 1^st July 2019 the Retention and Sustainability of Social Care Workforce (RESSCW) project had its first Steering Group meeting, hosted by the CASS Business School, City University of London. The project team met with Prof Sian Prof Sian Moore (University of Greenwich; Chair); Polly Pascoe (The Health Foundation), Colin Angel (UKHCA), Karolina Gerlich (NACAS), Dr Rekha Elaswarapu (Age UK), and Matthew Egan (UNISON). Further Steering Group members are Ricardo Rodrigues (European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research), Will Fenton (Skills for Care) and Lynne Linehan (lay research advisor). The team presented the RESSCW project objectives, methodology and expected impact of and got very helpful feedback from Steering Group members. This will help refine research questions and methods, in order to achieve a stronger impact, better aligned with the needs of social care staff and providers. The Steering Group will meet another three times during the lifetime of the project (in 2020, 2021, and 2022), and advise the project team on delivering much needed evidence aimed at improving workforce retention and recruitment in the social care industry.

“Retention and Sustainability of Social Care Workforce (RESSCW)” is part of the Health Foundation’s Efficiency Research Programme. The Health Foundation is an independent charity committed to bringing about better health and health care for people in the UK.