Social Care Wales draft workforce plan UKHCA response 2021

Please find below UKHCA's response to Social Care Wales' draft workforce plan, which was consulted on over the summer of 2021.

UKHCA welcomed the drafting of a Workforce Plan and would like to see parity of treatment with the NHS workforce. We encourage Social Care Wales to work closely with the Welsh Government and others to take the steps necessary to address critical workforce shortages. 

While we support the professionalisation of the workforce and the development of career pathways, concerns were also raised about whether the current registration and qualification framework optimally balance book-based and vocational approaches; and questioned whether the qualification requirements could, at times, be too rigorous. We raised the need for part-time and casual workers (who might combine carework with other things) to fit into the picture; and we encouraged increased attention in the Plan to both staff retention and the recognition of the workforce.

(The response was submitted when the Homecare Association was known as UKHCA.)