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four - The social care workforce

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

Peter Beresford
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Jennie Fleming
Affiliation:
Nottingham Trent University
Michael Glynn
Affiliation:
De Montfort University, Leicester
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Summary

Good standards of practice and care will only be achieved if organisations have a learning culture which supports the training and development of staff. At an organisational level these developments address structures, culture, systems, human resources and leadership. At an individual level this means keeping up to date through training and post-registration training and learning. If training and development needs are linked to organisational and individual priorities this supports the ongoing enhancement of quality and safety.

(Simmons, 2007, p 16)

We have an ageing workforce in council services, particularly direct services, particularly in the biggest growth area – caring…. In the next decade a third of them will be gone.

(John Ransford, Chief Executive, Local Government Association, Guardian Public Services Summit, 5 February 2009)

Standard Four: Workforce

The wages, terms and conditions of practitioners should be improved to ensure a reliable, sustainable and good quality workforce equipped to work in person-centred ways. They need to be suitably trained, supported and supervised and their views and experience should be valued.

Introduction

In this chapter we focus on the social care workforce. Practitioners are a vital element in social care and their role is clearly crucial in the move to and provision of person-centred support. Here we look more closely at how this workforce is treated and how consistent this may be with moves to person-centred support. The basic data about the social care workforce have been widely reported and are widely seen as cause for concern. While it is difficult to define accurately, the workforce is estimated to number about one-and-a-half million people. It ranges from professional social workers with statutory powers to restrict people's rights and freedom, to residential and domiciliary workers who are hourly paid. Two thirds of workers work in private or voluntary organisations. The workforce is located in a wide range of policy areas, including housing and health, as well as in specific social care services. Overall the social care workforce has been associated with low pay and poor terms and conditions of work (CSCI, 2008). These are often equated with those of supermarket shelf-stackers and check-out workers (but often with less favourable hours and working conditions).

Type
Chapter
Information
Supporting People
Towards a Person-Centred Approach
, pp. 95 - 126
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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