The federal government has today unveiled a £600 million package to assist with recruitment and retention in social care. The fund will support the social care workforce and boost capability in social care, in turn supporting the NHS ahead of winter and thru into next yr.

This week the Care Minister can also be writing to local authorities about preparations for winter, and NHS England has written to NHS organizations encouraging contingency planning to arrange for winter demands on the health service. The federal government is encouraging local health and care systems to arrange jointly for the winter months earlier this yr, increasing resilience and preparedness for seasonal viruses akin to flu or Covid.

The £600 million funding for adult social care features a £570 million workforce fund over two years, distributed to local authorities and £30 million funding for local authorities in probably the most challenged health systems. This funding follows the social care workforce reforms announced earlier this yr, and works, alongside the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, to construct a stronger overall foundation for the health and social care workforce.

It’ll help to enhance recruitment and retention, boost workforce capability and ensure a sustainable social care workforce fit for the longer term. A stronger care system will higher meet care needs across the country and support the NHS for future winters, stopping admission to hospital and helping people to be discharged from hospital more quickly, cutting waiting times for A&E and ambulances.

Minister for Care, Helen Whately said:

A whole bunch of hundreds of older people, disabled people and their carers depend day in, day trip on our social care workforce. Care staff deserve a brighter highlight to recognise and support what they do. That is why we’re reforming social care careers and backing our good care workforce with hundreds of thousands in extra funding.

Our workforce reforms will help more people pursue rewarding careers in social care with nationally recognised qualifications. Our investment in social care means more funding to go to the front line. This matters, because support for our care workforce is the important thing to more care and higher care.

A stronger social care system, hand in hand with our NHS, will help people get the care they need, when and where they need it.”

The multi-million-pound investment will deliver tangible improvements to care and support services, benefitting hundreds of thousands working in or supported by care. It builds on progress the federal government has already made on workforce reforms set out within the Next Steps to Put People on the Heart of Care plan – backed by an initial £250million – which is able to enable higher recognition of social care as a career.

This includes ultimately working towards flexible, integrated profession pathways between health and social care, in-line with the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

Melanie Weatherley MBE, Chair of Care Association Alliance said:

We’re delighted to welcome the announcement of additional funding to support the adult social care workforce. It is especially pleasing that this support covers two years, enabling the sector to develop effective longer-term initiatives.”

Cllr Martin Tett, County Councils Network Spokesperson for Adult Social Care said:

The County Councils Network (CCN) very much welcomes this timely announcement by the federal government. The network called for this remaining funding to be provided on to councils as soon as possible to assist tackle additional inflationary costs and demand pressures that are impacting social care services this yr and next.

With funding split over two years this can help councils mitigate a number of the financial and workforce pressures over the following 18 months. It’s also positive that the funding will likely be distributed through the present Market Sustainability & Improvement Fund without further administrative burdens.”

Oonagh Smyth, CEO of Skills for Care, said:

Support for local authorities to enhance capability in social care will help be certain that we will attract and keep more of the fitting individuals with the fitting skills. That is vitally necessary because our latest figures show that there have been around 152,000 vacancies on any given day in 2022-23. Improved capability ultimately means a greater experience for the individuals who draw on care and support.”

Alongside NHSE’s letter to the NHS, DHSC has issued letters to local adult social care systems and providers to share the federal government’s priorities for adult social care this winter, and to focus on the important thing actions local systems and care providers should take to guard individuals, their carers and the sector as a complete. That is to make sure a ‘whole system’ approach is taken to plan for the colder months and put adult social care on as firm a footing as possible ahead of winter this yr.

Of the £600 million from the Next Steps to Put People on the Heart of Care plan, £570 million will likely be given to local authorities as ‘flexible’ funding to permit them to tailor it to profit local needs. This might be by increasing the fees given to care providers, which is able to enable higher pay for care staff, driving tangible improvements to social care for individuals who draw on it, or reduce pressures on the health system by increasing the capability of social care and helping to bolster the sector ahead of winter.

As well as, as a part of the federal government’s initiative to enhance take care of everyone across the country, the National Institute for Health and Care Research has today launched a recent £10 million per yr funding program focused on social care research. The Research Program for Social Care will collect information on the people at the guts of care, providing government and the sector with clear paths on how they’ll improve, expand and strengthen social take care of people in need of care, carers, the social care workforce, and the general public.

The brand new program aligns with the department’s recent innovation and improvement unit, which is working with sector partners to determine clear priorities for innovation and research across adult social care. When fully established, the unit will take a look at how research can inform all elements of policymaking and delivery of care across the sector, to make sure we learn from best practice and promote recent approaches to care that may improve outcomes for the people at the guts of it.

Background information

• DHSC has published an accompanying policy statement here setting out details on how local authorities will receive the flexible funding to deliver these improvements as an expansion of the present £1.4 billion MSIF.
• That is along with the historic as much as £7.5 billion investment in social care the federal government announced in autumn 2022, in addition to the federal government’s successful international recruitment policy and its domestic national recruitment campaign, Made with Care.

On £10 million research fund:

• The Research Program for Social Care is a component of NIHR’s continued concentrate on constructing and improving social care research. Since 2006, the NIHR has awarded greater than £200 million to social care research projects. The brand new program stands alongside several other high-profile endeavors to supply evidence and support researchers and social care practitioners:
• NIHR’s School for Social Care Research, which goals to develop the evidence base for adult social care practice in England
• The Social Care Incubator, supported by NIHR, provides opportunities for researchers to find out about adult social care, related research and the opportunities that exist for developing research knowledge, skills, networks and projects within the sector.
• NIHR’s Applied Research Collaborations, each of which concentrate on social care as a part of their applied health research. ARC Kent, Surrey and Sussex is the ARC national priority lead for social care and social work.
• NIHR’s Policy Research Units, several of which concentrate on social care topics including Adult Social Care, Health and Social Care Workforce, Health and Social Care Systems and Commissioning, the Economics of Health and Social Care, and Quality, Safety and Outcomes of Health and Social Care.
• The NIHR also runs the Health and Social Care Delivery Research Program, which funds research to provide rigorous and relevant evidence to enhance the standard, accessibility and organization of health and social care services.