Alex O’Neill, operations director at Fairway Healthcare, explains why the problem with the care sector is old-fashioned methodologies, not hourly wages.
The UK’s social care sector is grappling with escalating financial pressures, now exacerbated by the recent increases in employer National Insurance (NI) contributions and the National Living Wage.
Analysis by the Nuffield Trust reveals that these changes are projected to cost adult social care providers an additional £2.8 billion in the upcoming financial year, placing many at risk of insolvency.
Focusing solely on hourly wages, however, is not enough to address the sector’s deep-rooted issues.
Care is a sector that is steadfastly stuck in 1990s operational habits and is reluctant to change. Staffing providers still operate on what is called a run or shift-filling basis – be it as little as 15-, 30-, 45- or 60-minute calls.
The domiciliary care market is split between small owner-managed businesses delivering very localised care – often no more than a five-mile radius – or huge franchise-driven providers who have grown via acquisition and swallowed swathes of smaller providers over the past 20 years. At every step, they have all championed paying the least they can get away with and this has had a long-lasting impact on the sector.
There’s a lot of talk about how the pay increases for carers have helped an already poorly paid occupation and improved the carers’ lives, though each statement is always followed by a “but”. Regardless, there’s too much of a focus on hourly rates.
A vicious cycle
The focus needs to be on why there are such terrible retention and progression rates within the sector and why so many care workers feel undervalued.
Providers spend a fortune on things like marketing, recruitment and internal compliance procedures – all with a tick-box methodology. This is a sector that continually looks in the wrong direction.
All of this leads to a reliance on short-term strategies – using agency workers to fill shifts, which is effectively crisis management and last-minute action, resulting in poor standards. The consequence is low staff morale, poor team spirit, more pressure on the incumbent workforce and eventually, ultimately, high staff turnover – a vicious cycle.
The facts are that too many care owners and managers pay as little as they can for care staff, and use a tick-box strategy to meet compliance requirements and deliver as many hours as possible, with as little fuss as they can. Overall, they spend a disproportionate amount of time continually recruiting and never fixing the problem.
It’s important to get out of your comfort zone and look at how much your return on investment can improve if you prioritise your workforce. Recruit well, train well, offer development, encourage growth, and drive up retention. That way, you build a strong, skilful, motivated, and passionate workforce.
Stop looking at carer hourly wage costs – that isn’t the problem. The elephant in the room is shortsighted, out-of-touch, old-fashioned methodologies that waste time and money and never address the root of the problem.
