“Care treated as ‘Cinderella’ service,” says GMB Union

Social care in the North West has a “disastrous staffing black hole” with more than 8,000 vacant posts, new figures released by GMB, the union for care workers, reveal.

The figures, which were obtained by the union from Skills for Care, show there are 8,200 care vacancies across the region according to the latest estimates.

Skills for Care estimates that the vacancy rate for care workers is a staggering 9.1 per cent – more than three times the average for all jobs.

Kelly Andrews, GMB National Officer, said: "Years of neglect has left our care sector with a disastrous staffing black hole.

“For years, care has been treated as a Cinderella service – when in reality this is a highly-skilled, vital job that we all rely on.

“It’s time that care workers are recognised as the skilled workers that they are – with decent wages, good training opportunities and a clear path to career progressions.

“Without urgent action the problem is going to get worse and worse until the whole system is at risk of collapsing.”

In response to GMB’s findings, Tracey Harrison, Rochdale Borough Council’s assistant director for commissioning, public health and adult care, said: “Our excellent quality assurance team works closely with local care providers to ensure staffing levels are maintained and the best possible care services are delivered.

“This robust partnership approach has seen a continual improvement in care standards, with over 80% of care homes across the borough rated as good or better by the Care Quality Commission.

“We aren’t aware of any specific recruitment issues locally but we aren’t complacent, which is why we are calling for a national social care funding solution to help strengthen the care sector and build on our existing work at a local level.”