Care vacancies reach new high with almost half of services struggling to recruit

Vacancies in the care sector have reached a record high as a report revealed almost half of services were recruiting at the end of 2021.

A Care Inspectorate and the Scottish Social Services Council report showed that 47% of services reported vacancies as of December 31.

It is an 11% increase from 2020 data and the highest percentage since annual statistics were first reported in 2016.

Care homes for the elderly, adults and children and young people were among the services which reported vacancies significantly above the national average, with concern also noted for residential special school recruitment.

And a higher proportion of vacancies were reported in East Dunbartonshire, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Of the vacancies, 60% of services reported failing to recruit nursing staff – an increase of 14 percentage points on December 2020 figures.

The rate of full-time nursing vacancies for all services also increased to 16.2%, up from 8% in 2020.

Some 58% of services which reported vacancies said they had trouble filling the role, a 15 percentage point increase from the previous year.

Other reasons for vacancies were listed as too few applicants in general at 60% and too few experienced applicants, 57%.

Proposals for a National Care Service, which would overhaul the social care sector, are currently being scrutinised by MSPs in Holyrood.

Jackie Irvine, chief executive of the Care Inspectorate, said: “This report is produced annually and helps us, the Scottish Government, regulators and others, to monitor the size and stability of the workforce, raise awareness of the challenges the sector faces and consider how we can provide support.

“As a society and a country, we need to properly recognise and reward social service workers with beneficial terms and conditions and proper investment.”

Maree Allison, acting chief executive of the Scottish Social Services Council, said: “We continue to highlight the need for fair work, fair terms and conditions, and an effective voice for the workforce.

“Both our organisations are closely involved in work to support the development and implementation of the National Care Service.

“We strongly welcome the ongoing debates about the value of care, its workforce and how it is funded. We will continue to play our part in promoting this.”

Kevin Stewart, Scotland’s social care minister, said: “We have funded two pay rises this year to improve recruitment and retention in social care and are leading the way increasing minimum hourly pay rates for adult social care workers. We have been very clear that the recovery of our NHS from the pandemic relies on us making our social care services sustainable.

“We continue to work with providers and partners to support these vital services as we design the model for the new National Care Service together, so we can be sure to put fair work at its heart, giving workers more say and helping the Scottish Government design how it will work.”