Public supports care home staff pay parity with the NHS

Almost three-quarters (71%) of UK adults believe care home staff should have pay parity with NHS healthcare assistants, according to a new survey.

In the YouGov research of more than 2,000 people commissioned by MHA, 81% of respondents viewed social care as a skilled job, with over three quarters (78%) saying they would feel proud to have a family member working in the sector.

MHA chief executive, Sam Monaghan, said: “With more people relying on social care in later life and less people entering the social care workforce – the sector’s skills crisis is hiding in plain sight. We know the general public have huge respect for the work that social care staff do, but unless the government commits to doing more to incentivise and reward these roles, we simply won’t have a strong enough talent pipeline to replace older colleagues when they retire.”

MHA is calling on the government to fund and enable the creation of a Social Care Council – as part of the charity’s wider Fix Care for All campaign. The Council would act as an independent body representing the 1.5 million people working in social care.

Monaghan added: “One of the biggest issues we need to tackle is the recognition, value and professionalisation of social care, and we believe that an independent body that advocates for the people that care for and protect the most vulnerable in our society is long overdue.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are hugely grateful for the work homecare providers do.

“Local authorities are responsible for ensuring payments to homecare providers are timely and that they commission an appropriate number of hours of care in order to meet the needs of the population.

“We have made available up to £7.5 billion in additional funding over two years to support adult social care which has enabled local authorities to increase their adult social care budgets by 10% in real terms this year.”

MHA is encouraging members of the public to get involved in the Fix Care For All campaign by signing its petition here, or by engaging with their local MPs.