What could the B-Word mean for the social care sector?

Deadlines have come and gone since Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016. However, the current October 31 deadline feels different. It does feel like it’s decision time, irrespective of the current talk of governments of national unity or further delays to facilitate a general election. As the summer draws to a close and we head into autumn, Brexit seems more real.

For the social care sector the key issues haven’t really changed much since the referendum. And whether we leave in a managed and orderly fashion or without a deal, the fundamentals remain the same.

Ultimately, it’s about staffing, specifically recruitment and retention, and also about ensuring continuity of supply for the facilities we own manage, the people we care for and the staff we employ. The latter means everything from food and medicines, to fuel and basic consumables. They’re each in their own way critical to the survival of the sector. We need people and we need stuff to do our job. It’s that simple.

In this blog I want to look more closely at staffing issues and I’ll follow it up with a second piece which looks in more detail at supply chain issues.

Fundamentally, the staffing problems facing adult social care predate Brexit and exist independently of it. We don’t just operate in a sector where about one in 10 posts remain unfilled because of Brexit.

And across the country the picture is mixed. In our experience, the reliance on staff from Europe is less noticeable in the north than the south. Urban areas also tend to be less reliant on care workers from the European Economic Area compared to rural places.

The issue is also more prominent in nursing homes - finding the right highly skilled nursing staff is definitely harder than finding the right care workers.

So what do we do about it as a sector? In my view, it’s about mitigation and proper planning. I’ve been in the sector long enough to remember previous threats which again seemed to pose an existential threat. When the minimum wage was brought in, many said it spelled disaster. It didn’t. We changed and responded as an industry and we got through it.

Now, as ever, the answer lies in treating staff well and making them feel valued. In my view, this goes beyond what we pay as an hourly rate to include proper induction and training, support with costs incurred on the job and other measures which demonstrate that staff matter to the business. It means offering people clear career progression to convince them that social care is a career for life. However, Brexit pans out these are the things we should focus on.

Brexit, however, may call for more radical thinking. If some of the worst fears do materialise and we face a perfect storm of a dwindling pool of workers and rising wage costs due to higher prices then we may have to get our thinking caps on. We will need to double down on the measures I’ve outlined above. Smart businesses are already doing this and we’ll need to get out of our comfort zones and even our business silos. Yes, we are competitive businesses operating in a marketplace. But are there areas where we could co-operate to mutual advantage? What’s stopping two or more social care businesses getting together to launch their own staffing agency, for example? These are the kind of ideas we’ll need to consider.

I’m naturally an optimist, and I’m always amazed by people’s ability to overcome challenges - even ones as seemingly insurmountable as Brexit. Social care is a resilient service and can be proud of the resilient people who work in it. I’m confident we’ll get through this.

Next blog I’ll be looking at the supply chain issues thrown up by Brexit and how they might impact on social care.