Workforce Supply: The Role of
Temporary Staff
International Conference on Evidence-based
Policy in Long Term Care
8th-10th September 2010,
London
Michelle Cornes, Jo Moriarty, Saidah Blendi-Mahota,
Tim Chittleburgh, Shereen Hussein and Jill Manthorpe
Policy Background
‘By 2020 it is expected that employers will no
longer need to rely on temporary staff to cover
tasks that would normally be carried out by a
permanent social worker and that as a result
those receiving care will be able to count on
continuity in the person providing their care’
Options for Excellence (DH, 2006)
Study Aims



To explore how local councils with adult social
services responsibilities are implementing
‘Options for Excellence.’
To assess the impact of ‘Options for Excellence’
on the employment businesses sector and what
if any role the sector is likely to play in the social
care workforce of the future.
To gain a better understanding of the
motivations, work histories, and future
employment plans of agency workers.
Methods



Case studies of progress in three local council
areas (rural, metropolitan, urban).
Interviews with: social services managers (n=18);
recruitment consultants (n=15); and agency
workers [both qualified (n=45) and unqualified
(n=15)].
A survey of local councils (n=151) in England
(36% response rate).
Reasons for using agency workers
In our survey 92% of responding authorities had used
agency workers in the 2008-2009 financial year. The
reasons for using (qualified social workers) (other social
care workers) were:
–
–
–
–
–
Difficulties in recruiting permanent staff (80%) (68%)
To fill a post quickly (78%) (82%)
Sickness cover (65%) (82%)
For a specific task or activity (69%) (63%)
Other reason (22%) (16%)
Implementing ‘Options for Excellence’
80% of respondents in our survey of local
authorities reported that their department had
implemented strategies to reduce the use of
agency workers:
¼ had introduced staff banks or pools
¾ of respondents had introduced managed
vendor schemes
Staff Banks
“In the NHS it makes sense to have a very strong
nurse bank, but for a smaller places or a group of
four or five nursing homes – say 200 staff or
something – it probably won’t work as you will
not have enough vacancies to keep people on the
bank happy… I think agencies will always be
necessary”
Managed Vendor Schemes



There is good evidence that managed vendor
schemes are delivering cost savings to councils of
between 3 and 10% (IDeA, 2006)
In our survey, 60% of respondents reported that
their expenditure on agency working in 20082009 was less or the same as their expenditure in
2007-2008
Only one respondent thought expenditure would
increase in 2110/2011
Impact on quality of service
‘We have to do more safeguarding and as a
result our costs are increasing, however
[our income] is being reduced and those
two don’t really match up…’
Recruitment Consultant
Business as usual
‘[Local councils] tend to go round in cycles They
will put a recruitment freeze on locums… It’s
really strict and then six months later they realise
that people have left or that they haven’t been
able to recruit and then go back to using agency
staff again. So it is just kind of cyclical. They all
take turns in doing it so I won’t take [Options for
Excellence] too seriously’.
Recruitment Consultant
Blurred boundaries
“We’re in a catch 22 situation… we’d like to bring
our carers onto permanent contracts, but local
authority parameters change so frequently. One
minute you’ve got the work, the next you haven’t
… We have had 95% of our carers for the last four
years”
Recruitment Agency Manager Supplying Care Workers to Local Authorities
Volume
‘I would say 70% of our clients are private
residential homes… We supply care workers,
kitchen staff, cooks, domestics everything to run
a care home… We employ two minibus drivers as
we are doing the volumes we need to transport
people at work… I would say our figures have
steadily grown over the period’
Recruitment Agency Manager Supplying Care Workers to Private Care Homes
Retention
“All the [residential care homes we supply] on a
daily basis are constantly recruiting and it would
be cheaper to employ someone full time. The
trouble is people don’t stick at jobs so there will
always be space for agencies”
(Employment Business Manager)
What is under-reliance on agency workers?
‘We are permanently asking our existing staff to do
more… I know it is your day off, I know you are on
holiday, but can you just do… that’s why people
leave. [Covering staff shortages] is big, big problem,
I would say it takes up 80% of my time [Researcher:
Would you use any agency?] We can’t because of
the rate we get paid [by the council], and we have
to maintain profit margins.’
Manager of a Domiciliary Care Agency
The experiences of agency care workers
‘I don’t have to be compelled to the rota, I can
chose the time I want to work and the time I
want to work like time to do my own personal
thing so it gives me that flexibility of time. That is
why I decided to join the agency – [I could get]
full time employment as a support worker but I
am not ready to take it up yet.’
Temporary Agency Care Worker
Impact of ‘Options for Excellence’ on
Business Confidence
‘Recruitment into the [nursing and social care
sector] will continue to be challenging and will
demand more innovative strategies as well as
models for sourcing and skill development e.g.
increased reliance on bank and agency workers’.
Recruitment and Employment Confederation,
First Sector Profile for the Nursing and Social Care Group (2009)
Safeguarding – Improving the way agency
workers are managed in the workplace



Expecting agency workers to ‘hit the ground
running’ (lack of induction especially for newly
qualified social workers)
Unequal access to training and supervision
Giving agency (social) workers the most complex
case load (cases that no one else wants to deal
with)
Implementing ‘Options for Excellence’
Progress Update




There is evidence that most local councils have
introduced measures to tackle over reliance on agency
workers.
There is evidence of efficiency savings and a trend toward
further reducing expenditure on agency working
Indications that agency use may increase as challenges in
recruitment and retention continue
Need to focus on safeguarding and issues around how
agency workers managed in the workplace.