Signal Adult social care short of over 100,000 staff with 122,000 vacancies

Summary

The report holds that skills shortages also hurt essential public services, citing adult social care as an example. The sector reports a shortfall of more than 100,000 staff and 122,000 vacancies. That equals a vacancy rate of 8%, far above the rate of just under 3% for jobs across the wider economy. According to the report, staff shortages in this sector make care backlogs harder to clear, reduce the quality of care and affect staff wellbeing and sickness rates. An ageing population drives these shortages by increasing demand for health and social care while reducing the share of people of working age. The report judges that tackling skills shortages in the NHS would improve the quality of UK healthcare.