To help adult social care providers with recruitment and retention we have pulled together in one place some of the initiatives and information that are available to you.
Plan and deliver a supportive and inclusive induction for new starters at all levels across all types of roles in adult social care.
Managers have a key role in ensuring new starters are inspired and understand how to put expected standards and behaviours into practice. You also have a role in noticing how staff are working during their induction period, identifying and challenging any behaviour that’s not in line with your expectations and supporting staff to succeed.
This toolkit will support you to offer a robust induction to fully support new starters and ensure you create the right first impression.
The LDSS provides funding towards learning and development, helping the non-regulated adult social care workforce (including deputy and CQC-registered managers) to complete certain training courses and qualifications. It provides an opportunity for you and your staff to gain recognition for your existing expertise and to develop new skills and specialisms.
LDSS funding is administered by NHS Business Services Authority (NSHBSA) on DHSC’s behalf through a new online claims service.
About the Scheme
LDSS funding is available for eligible training courses that:
- Are listed on the Eligible training courses and qualifications page on GOV.UK.
- Are paid for and started between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to claim funding, your organisation must:
- Provide an adult social care service.
- Directly employ care staff in England (including local authorities).
- Completed, or have already completed, the Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS).
For further details, please refer to the official scheme guidance: Learning and Development Support Scheme for the Adult Social Care Workforce - A Guide for Employers
Act now to claim for LDSS funding
- Review the Eligible training courses and qualifications list to identify L&D opportunities relevant to you and your staff.
- Ensure that your organisation has an up-to-date ASC-WDS account.
- Complete the Expression of Interest form. Once completed, you will be invited to use the new online claims service by NHSBSA. We will endeavour to contact you as soon as possible.
If you have any questions or require any support, please do not hesitate to contact us at asclearninganddevelopmentsupport@nhsbsa.nhs.uk.
Fully Funded Clinical and Non-Clinical Training via the Apprenticeship Levy Transfer Route
Apprenticeships are a key way for people to learn on the job, both for new starters to the NHS and for existing members of staff, allowing learners the opportunity to gain a qualification and apply their learning while continuing to earn a salary. Large organisations in England pay the Apprenticeship Levy and can then use this to fund training for new and existing staff. There is also provision for them to give other organisations access to their funds, via a transfer. All primary and community care employing organisations can take advantage of this offer, irrespective of their size.
Do the funds cover all the Apprenticeship training?
The funds pay for 100% of the training costs for both clinical and non-clinical roles.
What Apprenticeship training can be paid by the Apprenticeship Levy transfer?
We suggest employing organisations use the Healthcare Apprenticeship Standards Online (HASO) to see what Apprenticeship standard training can be paid for by the Apprenticeship Levy transfer fund - It is a quick and simple search!
How can employers apply for an Apprenticeship Levy transfer?
Once the application is approved, do organisations need to do anything else?
Employing organisations will need to set up an account on the Apprenticeship Service. This is straightforward to do, and you can be supported to do this once your application is approved. The ESFA GOV.UK YouTube channel has lots of useful how-to videos.
Incentive payments for hiring a new apprentice
Employers and training providers could get £1,000 each for taking on an apprentice who is either:
aged 16 to 18 years old, or
aged 19 to 25 years old and has an education, health and care (EHC) plan or has been in the care of their local authority
Find more information on the GOV.UK website.
Building the resilience of your organisation
Our Greater resilience - better care guide is for adult social care managers and explains some of the ways that they can develop staff resilience.
It includes examples of things that you can do to:
- reduce the risk of workplace stress
- help workers develop resilient behaviours
- make those behaviours the norm in your workplace.
Building the resilience of your team
Our Developing resilience in practice guide shares case studies about how other employers have developed the resilience of their workforce at an organisational and team level and it includes useful examples, templates and resources that they've developed.
Building your own resilience
Our Building your own resilience, health and wellbeing guide is for anyone working in adult social care. It explains what resilience is and suggests strategies to help you recognise and cope with pressure and stress, including techniques to:
- relax
- manage your thoughts and emotions
- become more self-aware
- look after your physical and mental health
- get the right work-life balance.
It also has ideas and guidance about how to build your own resilience, for example through:
- emotional intelligence
- accurate thinking
- realistic optimism
Bite size guides
These bite size guide's highlight some of the key areas from the full ‘Building your own resilience, health and wellbeing’ guide to provide you with some quick support.
These initiatives will encourage learning and development opportunities for people working in different care services as well as supporting with the recruitment and retention challenges which we know employers are continuing to face. We look forward to seeing the impact this package can have for people working in care.
What is curious about care?
Curious about Care is a values-based recruitment quiz designed to help in-home care providers in the process of recruiting staff. Candidates take a quick and easy quiz on their smartphone, computer or tablet, and recruitment managers then receive their results with a short report on their suitability for care work.
The quiz uses “Situational Judgement Tests”, which are a widely-used Human Resources technique for supporting recruitment to values-based professions. Using fictionalised versions of real-life care worker scenarios, applicants are asked to put themselves in a care workers' shoes, and to consider how they might respond to different dilemmas.
Recruitment managers can construct a tailored quiz from up to 11 scenarios which were developed during research led by the University of York.
Please find below information put together by Skills for Care about all the funding initiatives available to social care organisations to help them develop and retain staff:
- Introduce potential new employees to social care
- The opportunity to educate healthcare professionals on how care homes works
- Upskill current staff to be mentors and supervisors
- Weekly tariff per student – placements vary from 2 – 7 weeks dependent on area
- Students have a range of skills that will provide extra support to your residents
Following placements available: -
- Student nurses
- TNAs
- Paramedicine
- OT and Physio
- Pharmacists
- The students are all from local universities
Contact michele.tuttle1@nhs.net, steve.white6@nhs.net, or james.baillon@nhs.net for further discussions
Did you know that Notts Alliance Training Hub (NATH) can access apprenticeship levy funds which will fully fund the cost of apprenticeships for your staff?
Apprenticeship Levy | Nottinghamshire Alliance Training Hub (NATH) (nottstraininghub.nhs.uk)
- NATH will facilitate meetings between you and training providers to find the option that works best for you. You can also continue to use your current training provider
- We will guide you through the very simple process to apply for levy funding
- Opportunity to upskill current staff or introduce new staff to your organisation
- Invest in your staff to improve retention
- Over 100 standards available from Level 2 – Level 7 from care assistants to degrees and everything between
- More information available - Apprenticeship search / Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education
Want to know more? Contact michele.tuttle1@nhs.net, steve.white6@nhs.net, or james.baillon@nhs.net
City social care provider reps wanted to attend the ICS Care Sector Workforce Steering Group
The ICS Care Workforce Steering Group is a bi-monthly meeting to steer the development of the care sector workforce. It is imperative that there is an ICS forum to support system collaboration and development of this workforce, now and in the future, to ensure that the workforce is visible and included within system workforce priorities. Our aim is for your voice to be included and to have representation from all parts of the sector; care homes both older and younger adults, supported living, home care, extra care and day service providers.
If you would like to be involved, please contact Amy Groom on amy.groom@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
Skills for Care, in partnership with key stakeholders, has developed a range of new resources to support employers recruit and retain nurses in their workforce. These resources have been designed to share best practices and expertise that explore the introduction and development of nursing roles across different care settings.
The resources cover professional practice from pre-registration right through the nursing career span.
The LGA has launched a bite-size guide to overseas recruitment, developed at the request of providers in the Southeast, which sets out the benefits and walks employers through the resources needed, legal requirements, cost, how long it takes and how to ensure success. It also draws on real life examples from providers. While this is written for providers in England, it may be relevant to other parts of the UK.
For further information email amanda.whittaker-brown@local.gov.uk
Ongoing workforce pressures have meant that adult social care employers and providers have needed to adopt a range of strategies to help retain and support their workforce.
These top tips created by the Care Provider Alliance, ADASS and Local Government Association capture some of the approaches taken by organisations to reduce staff turnover and help retain people in the care and health workforce.
Through sharing these tips, the Care Provider Alliance, ADASS and Local Government Association invite you to share what successes you have had with retention across the social care workforce or lessons that may help others.
Please email any comments or suggestions to chip@local.gov.uk
Top tips for retention – A briefing for adult social care providers
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