Government intervention is needed to help remedy social care’s agency staff crisis and address wider workforce pressures, Care England has said.

Care England chief executive, Professor Martin Green, said a 52% rise (55,000) in vacancies over the past 12 months had resulted in an “increasingly unsustainable” reliance on agency staff.

Green said: “The use of agency staff has been a bandage over more deep-routed recruitment and retention issues, which now, expectedly, are unravelling.”

The Care England boss said the usage and cost of agency staff had increased “dramatically” over the past year and called for government intervention to prevent the situation worsening over the coming months.

Care England’s Agency Fee Survey has revealed the extent to which the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the reliance on agency staff, reaching a point of unsustainability for the sector with 78% of respondents using more/significantly more agency staff compared to April 2021 and 88% saying it was more/significantly more challenging to book them.

Additionally, 86% said the cost of agency staff had increased since April 2021, with 74% saying they had to contact multiple agencies to source workers.  

Over three quarters (77%) said it had become more difficult to book agency staff with a similar number (73%) saying they were less reliable.

The survey found agency rates were over double those of a carer (£19.57 vs £9.90) with agency nurses receiving £27.56 per hour compared with £19.49.

Green said current government measures were “wholly insufficient” highlighting that the £500m generated via the Health and Social Care Levy over the next three years only equated to 5.7p per hour for each sector employee.

The Care England chief executive called for “root and branch” reform of recruitment and career pathways in the sector and echoed last week’s call by the Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities Committee for equal pay rates between domestic and overseas staff, as well as a plan for overseas recruitment in line with the code of practice on global staff shortages and an additional £7 billion per year for social care.

“We stand by this call to action, but this must come as part of a wider review which forms part of a fully funded 10-year workforce plan,” Green said.

A government spokesperson said: “Our social care workforce is valued, appreciated and supported, which is why we are providing at least £500 million to develop and support the workforce.

“This is a part of the additional £5.4 billion investment over the next three years, which will allow us to begin a comprehensive programme of reform for adult social care.

“Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and terms and conditions, independent of central government.”