Workforce: recruitment, training and retention in health and social care

Health and Social Care Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 23 Nov 2021 Closed: 26 Apr 2023 Parliament page
Reasons behind staff leaving the health and social care sectors and how to tackle them will be examined in a new inquiry. Workforce recruitment and training will also be explored. The Committee has heard repeatedly that more staff will be needed to meet future demand and deal with the backlog … Read more
38 Recommendations
35 Conclusions
1 Report
6 Oral sessions
1 Letter
6 Events
Activity timeline 15 events
21 Apr
2023
Report published
6 Sep
2022
Correspondence
25 Jul
2022
Report published
28 Jun
2022
Oral evidence
28 Jun
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 16, Palace of Westminster
7 Jun
2022
Oral evidence
7 Jun
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
24 May
2022
Oral evidence
24 May
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
11 May
2022
Oral evidence
11 May
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Macmillan Room, Portcullis House
22 Mar
2022
Oral evidence
Oral evidence sessions 6 sessions
28 Jun 2022
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Chevonne Baker · Right at Home UK Dr Claire Fuller · Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care System Dr Hugh Porter · Nottingham City Integrated Care Partnership Matthew Taylor · Good Work Review Saffron Cordery · NHS Providers Sarah Sweeney · National Voices
7 Jun 2022
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Amanda Pritchard · NHS England Matthew Style · Department of Health and Social Care Michelle Dyson · Department for Education Professor Stephen Powis · NHS England Rt Hon Sajid Javid · Department of Health and Social Care
24 May 2022
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Danny Mortimer · NHS Employers Dr Denise Chaffer · Royal College of Nursing Dr Navina Evans · NHS England Gill Walton · Royal College of Midwives Ian Trenholm · Care Quality Commission (CQC) Professor Em Wilkinson-Brice · NHS England Ravi Sharma · Royal Pharmaceutical Society Shawn Charlwood · British Dental Association (BDA) General Dental Practice Committee Simon Williams · Local Government Association
11 May 2022
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Dr Latifa Patel · British Medical Association (BMA) Isaac Samuels, Health and social care community campaigner and social care recipient Lara Akinnawonu · Cardiff University Professor Colin Melville · General Medical Council Professor Hazel Scott · University of Liverpool Professor Malcolm Reed · Medical Schools Council Professor Roger Kirby · Royal Society of Medicine Professor Scott Wilkes · University of Sunderland Sophie Weaver, Town councillor and social care recipient Trevor Wright, lived experience witness
22 Mar 2022
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Dr Vishal Sharma · Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital NHS Trust Dr Wen Wang · University of Leicester Jacqui McBurnie · NHS England and NHS Improvement Menopause Group Nina Hemmings · Nuffield Trust Prema Fairburn-Dorai · Primary Homecare in Suffolk Professor Carol Atkinson · Manchester Metropolitan University Professor Carol Woodhams · University of Surrey Professor Dame Clare Gerada · NHS Practitioner Health Shilpa Ross · The King's Fund Wayne Jaffe · University Hospital of North Midlands NHS Trust
1 Mar 2022
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Chris Hopson · NHS England Dr Emma Hayward · University of Leicester Gamu Nyasoro · Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Jane Ashcroft CBE · Anchor Hanover Lara Bywater · LDC Care Nicola McQueen · NHS Professionals Oonagh Smyth · Skills for Care Professor Dame Helen Stokes-Lampard · University of Birmingham Rachael Dodgson · Dimensions Sarah McClinton · Association of Directors of Adult Social Services
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Third Report - Workforce: recruitment, training and retention in… HC 115 25 Jul 2022 73 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
11 results
Clear
3 Recommendation Rejected
Third Report - Workforce: recruitm…
Introduce comprehensive bursary scheme for nursing and midwifery students, guaranteeing NHS work.
The Government’s current target of recruiting 50,000 NHS nurses is not having any meaningful impact on the true scale of nursing shortages. The Government must introduce a new bursary scheme comprising full coverage of tuition fees, a non-means- tested grant … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects introducing a new bursary scheme and guaranteed NHS work, stating it is committed to delivering 50,000 more nurses through existing training investments, diversification, recruitment, and retention, noting a non-repayable training grant of £5,000 exists for eligible students.
Department of Health and Social Care
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35 Recommendation Rejected
Third Report - Workforce: recruitm…
Review student clinical placement tariff setting for transparency and equitable rates.
The Department of Health and Social Care must commit to reviewing the process by which student clinical placement tariffs are set to establish why there is such a large difference between medical and non-medical clinical student tariffs. This review should … Read more
Government Response
The government does not agree to review the process by which student clinical placement tariffs are set, and instead focuses on its efforts to deliver 50,000 more nurses through investment and diversification of the training pipeline.
Department of Health and Social Care
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52 Conclusion Rejected
Third Report - Workforce: recruitm…
Fairness of social care pay compared to NHS roles requires an NHS England review.
NHS England employs 104,000 people in adult social care jobs. NHS England must undertake a review of pay in their social care jobs. In the review, NHS health and social care roles must be compared based on the skills, competencies, … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects the recommendation for NHS England to review pay in social care jobs, stating that NHS England does not directly employ an adult social care workforce and that care worker pay is the responsibility of independent care employers.
Department of Health and Social Care
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53 Recommendation Rejected
Third Report - Workforce: recruitm…
Increase annual funding for social care by £7 billion by 2023–24.
We reiterate the recommendation made in our ‘Social care: funding and workforce’ report that annual funding for social care should be increased by £7 billion by 2023–24. This will account for demographic changes, uplift staff pay in line with National … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects the recommendation for a £7 billion annual increase in social care funding by 2023-24, instead committing up to £2.8 billion in 23-24 and £4.7 billion in 24-25, which it states is the largest increase in history.
Department of Health and Social Care
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54 Recommendation Rejected
Third Report - Workforce: recruitm…
Ensure Fair Cost of Care calculations pay social care workers Band 3 NHS rates.
We welcome the Fair Cost of Care exercises as an opportunity to address the underfunding of the social care sector. However, these exercises must not be used as an excuse to reinforce the low pay which is endemic in the … Read more
Government Response
The government disagrees with calculating the cost of care based on paying care workers the same rate as equivalent NHS roles (Band 3 Agenda for Change), stating that care worker pay is the responsibility of independent care employers who consider local market conditions.
Department of Health and Social Care
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62 Conclusion Rejected
Third Report - Workforce: recruitm…
“By-the-minute” commissioning damages care continuity due to chronic social care underfunding.
The practice of “by-the-minute” commissioning is having a devastating impact on the continuity of care offered to service users and the terms and conditions under which workers must provide care. The reality is that some care is commissioned in this … Read more
Government Response
The government explicitly disagrees with the conclusion that social care is chronically underfunded, citing sustained government investment and increased spending by local authorities.
Department of Health and Social Care
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63 Recommendation Rejected
Third Report - Workforce: recruitm…
Provide sufficient funding to end “by-the-minute” homecare commissioning and improve care worker terms.
The Government must commit to providing sufficient funding for the social care sector so that Local Authorities and private providers are able to end the practice of “by- the-minute” commissioning of homecare. Local Authorities and private providers in turn must … Read more
Government Response
The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating it has already provided sufficient funding for local authorities to meet their duties in the social care sector.
Department of Health and Social Care
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64 Conclusion Rejected
Third Report - Workforce: recruitm…
Domiciliary care workers frequently work below minimum wage due to unpaid travel time.
It is completely unacceptable that the practice of not paying for travel time means that some domiciliary care workers are effectively working for less than the minimum or living wage. The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, with the … Read more
Government Response
The government disagrees that new guidance is required on travel time, stating that current legislation already entitles social care workers to be paid for time spent travelling between appointments and that HMRC proactively enforces minimum wage compliance.
Department of Health and Social Care
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65 Conclusion Rejected
Third Report - Workforce: recruitm…
New regulations needed for zero-hours contracts and travel pay for domiciliary care workers.
New regulations should be introduced by 2023 in which care workers initially employed on zero-hours contracts must be offered a choice of contract after three months of employment. The new regulations should state that domiciliary care workers must be paid … Read more
Government Response
The government disagrees with the recommendation for new regulations on zero-hours contracts, supporting a range of contract types and noting a commitment to introduce a right to request a more predictable contract, while also stating existing minimum wage legislation covers travel time.
Department of Health and Social Care
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68 Recommendation Rejected
Third Report - Workforce: recruitm…
Pass recruitment and retention funds directly to local providers for targeted campaigns.
Local providers are best suited to understand the recruitment challenges in their local areas. The Government must pass recruitment and retention funds directly to providers to be invested in local recruitment campaigns.
Government Response
The government disagrees with the recommendation to pass funds directly to providers, stating that local health and care systems are better placed to determine how to use workforce funds, which are already provided to local systems.
Department of Health and Social Care
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70 Recommendation Rejected
Third Report - Workforce: recruitm…
Waive international recruitment costs, including skills charge, for care workers and sponsors.
International recruitment is too expensive for some social care providers. The Government should consider helping by waiving the cost of sponsorship certificates and licenses, including the immigration skills charge, for care workers and their sponsors, for two years, and other … Read more
Government Response
The government rejected the recommendation to waive the cost of sponsorship certificates and licenses for care workers, deeming it unreasonable. They noted positive responses to current inclusion on the Shortage Occupation List and announced a £15 million support fund to help reduce recruitment costs and complexity for providers.
Department of Health and Social Care
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Government Response AI assessment · 48 of 38 classified
Accepted 6
Accepted in Part 4
Acknowledged 13
Deferred 5
Not Addressed 9
Rejected 11
Total 38 recs + 35 conclusions
Correspondence 1 letter
6 Sep 2022 Correspondence from the Chief Executive of NHS England on Workforce: recruitment, training and retention in the NHS and Social Care dated 10.08.22
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