Low pay continues to make hiring and keeping adult social care staff challenging, a Skills for Care report shows.

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive, NHS Providers, said:

“An NHS fit for the future needs strong social care services and workforces alongside.

“Limited social care capacity contributes to thousands of people being stuck in hospital beds every day, when they could be recovering at or closer to home – which is better for them and for the wider health and care system.

“Ministers can’t put off difficult decisions about social care any longer. Successive governments have dodged them for too long.

“The government has pledged a ‘new deal’ for social care staff. We need action now to resolve the issue of pay for social care staff to improve domestic recruitment. Recruits from abroad are welcome and valued but social care and the NHS need better ‘pipelines’ of staff from these shores to make health and care workforces more sustainable.

“Boosting pay isn’t the only solution but it’s a vital first step. Just like in the NHS, better conditions, training and opportunities for social care staff are important too.

“Social care needs meaningful reform and long-term, sustainable funding to address chronic workforce shortages and to ease pressures on over-stretched services – which take a huge toll on carers and users."