‘Crisis’ in social care as South London faces shortage of 7,000 workers

Shocking data has emerged that underlines the dire state of adult social care in the capital, as vacancies and job turnover has skyrocketed in the past year.

In South London, there are 7,000 social care worker vacancies that need to be filled for local authorities and independent care organisations.

Rates of pay and poor working conditions have contributed to the fall in number of workers in the sector, affecting the level of care that can be provided to those who need it.

Data from Skills for Care, a workforce body for adult social care, shows that the number of vacancies in the capital has increased by nearly 50 per cent in the past year.

Simon Bottery, Senior Fellow at charity The King’s Fund, said: “These figures are evidence of the absolute crisis social care faces when trying to recruit staff, a crisis that has profound consequences for people needing care.

“A key reason for that is pay, which continues to lag behind other sectors including retail and hospitality, as well as similar roles in the NHS.”

The data also shows that the mean hourly pay for care workers in the independent sector in London is £10.12.

Bexley has the highest number of vacancies in South London, with 1,400 posts needed to be filled across the borough. Croydon is the second highest with 1,100. 

Wandsworth had a turnover of nearly 40 per cent of staff in the past year, while Merton was second highest with 38.3 per cent.

Lambeth had the highest increase in job vacancies in South London, at 6.5 per cent.

Louise Whitley, Skills for Care’s head of area for London, said: “Like the rest of England, London has seen a notable increase in vacancies across adult social care in the last year.

“The people who work in social care are key to ensuring that everyone in our community can live the lives they choose.

“We must prioritise the sustainability of the social care workforce to ensure everyone is able to access the care they need now and in the future.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social care said: “We have launched our annual domestic recruitment campaign, Made With Care, to encourage people to take up a career in adult social care, and we are also investing £15million to increase international recruitment into the sector.

“Funding for health and social care services will be maintained at the same level as intended when the Health and Social Care levy was in place, including £5.4billion for adult social care, while we have committed £500million to support discharge from hospitals into social care.”

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