4.3% of the UK population is expected to be aged 85 or over by 2045. As healthy life expectancy has not increased at the same rate, more years are now being spent in poor health, driving demand for health and social care services.
The health and social care workforce are struggling to meet this increased demand. For example, the overall vacancy rate in adult social care was 10.7% in 2021 to 2022, while NHS vacancy rates were 11.9% in September 2021 compared to the labour market average of 4.2%. Staff turnover in adult social care was 29% in 2021 to 2022 with fewer people joining the workforce each year. The Health Foundation recently identified an overall workforce supply-demand gap of around 103,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) posts across the NHS and general practice in 2021 to 2022 (around 7% of estimated FTE workforce demand) and a 1 in 4 shortfall in GP and general practice nurse posts by 2030 to 2031.
Research into new and more efficient models of care with a focus on prevention, combined with understanding how the health and social care workforce can be trained and supported to deliver them, are required to deliver high quality care more efficiently.
See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-of-health-areas-of-research-interest/ for more information.
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
It is generally accepted that being in good quality, safe work is beneficial for one's physical and mental wellbeing. If this is the case, being able to work healthily and happily for longer would be significant step tow...
Funded by: ISCF
Lead research organisation: King's College London
Addresses the challenges of recruitment, retention, and wellbeing in the care sector, focusing on workforce development and support.
The UK's population is ageing, and this presents a major problem for government since older people are the major users of health and social care services. As well as increasing the demand for care, population ageing is a...
Funded by: EPSRC
Lead research organisation: University of Southampton
Focuses on understanding the complexities of health and social care systems in an ageing society, but does not directly address the workforce challenges mentioned in the question.
The proposed research, a case study of the management of employment change in the NHS, is advanced against the backdrop of far-reaching changes in the UK state pension age and the abolition of the mandatory retirement ag...
Funded by: MRC
Lead research organisation: University of Leicester
Investigates the implications of an ageing workforce on working-life longevity and performance within the NHS, but does not fully address the recruitment, retention, and wellbeing challenges mentioned in the question.