0:01
Hello and welcome. Thank you for taking part in this virtual
0:04
event, which will help us develop the next phase of the
0:07
implementation of the workforce strategy for health and social
0:11
care. The purpose of this presentation is to explain how
0:14
we went about developing the proposed actions, presenting the
0:18
main messages and themes that we heard from the sector during our
0:21
engagement, presenting the proposed actions for the next
0:24
phase of implementation and informing you on how you can
0:28
respond to the consultation.
0:32
A Healthy Wales: Our Workforce Strategy for Health and Social Care
0:36
was published in October 2020. The ambition by 2030 is
0:39
to have a motivated, engaged and valued health and social care
0:43
workforce with the capacity, competence and confidence to
0:46
meet the needs of the people of Wales.
0:52
It's nearly three years since the launch of the Workforce Strategy
0:55
and since then we've seen significant challenges
0:59
caused by a worldwide pandemic, the cost of living crisis,
1:02
the war in Ukraine and the impact of Brexit. But despite these
1:06
difficulties, our ambition is the same and we've made progress
1:09
as can be seen in our delivery plans and annual reports which
1:13
are available on our website.
1:16
Although progress has been made, social care is facing major
1:20
workforce challenges, with difficulties attracting people
1:23
into the sector, recruiting enough people and retaining the
1:27
existing workforce.
1:29
The workforce is also still feeling the ongoing impact of
1:33
the pandemic and the efforts that were made to keep services going,
1:36
keep people safe and meet increasing demands.
1:40
Staff well-being is being affected by increased levels of stress,
1:43
fatigue and burnout, along with perceived poor working
1:46
conditions and the lack of professional development opportunities.
1:52
These workforce issues are a priority to solve as we move forward.
1:56
We can't provide high quality health and social care services
2:00
and support to the people of Wales without our workforce who
2:04
work in a range of statutory, private or voluntary provider
2:07
services as volunteers or carers. When we describe the
2:11
workforce we include foster carers, volunteers and unpaid
2:14
carers. The actions we include where relevant, apply to these
2:18
groups just as much as they do to the more traditional
2:21
definition of the workforce.
2:24
The 2023 to 2026 delivery plan builds on the progress made so
2:28
far and includes developments based on feedback we heard from
2:32
engagement with the sector. It describes the actions that will
2:36
help to move the workforce forward over the next three years.
2:41
The ambition of the workforce strategy won't be achieved by
2:44
one partner or one stakeholder alone. We need collaborative and
2:48
partnership working at all levels. The progress made so far
2:51
has been based on effective joint working in a range of
2:54
areas which will continue through the next phase of delivery.
3:00
Last summer we held engagement events with a range of
3:04
stakeholders to help us shape the next phase of delivery of
3:07
the workforce strategy. We ran six in person events in June and July,
3:11
two in the North, two in the West and two in the South.
3:15
We had two virtual events in September and October which were
3:19
identical to the in person events but held online and we
3:22
also had an online survey which ran in October. Overall, through
3:26
all engagement methods we had over 350 people attending and
3:29
contributing to the initial engagement phase. The overall
3:33
feedback from the sector from these events was that we're
3:36
still on the right path, but perhaps we need to move at a
3:39
faster pace, especially around terms and conditions and the
3:43
well-being of the workforce.
3:47
In addition to what the sector told us, we conducted a
3:51
Horizon Scanning exercise, which involved reviewing and
3:54
considering policy, legislative frameworks and research reports
3:57
and how they will impact on the workforce. We also considered
4:01
the latest data and workforce profile information to
4:04
understand the size and makeup of the current workforce.
4:08
As part of the final preparations before going out to
4:12
consultation during March and April this year, we engaged
4:15
further with key stakeholders and partners at a national level,
4:18
including the Association of Directors of Social Services,
4:22
the Unions, Welsh Government, the British Association for
4:26
Social Work and Social Workers and the Workforce Manager
4:29
Network, to name just a few.
4:32
The National Workforce Implementation Plan for the NHS
4:36
has already been published since January 2023. So the delivery
4:39
plan that we are consulting on focuses on social care and the
4:43
joint actions with our Health Partners. In the delivery
4:46
plan we have tried to cross reference to the NHS National
4:50
Workforce Implementation Plan to show the links and the scope for joint working.
4:58
The actions of the strategy are based around the seven themes
5:01
which were identified through the initial consultation with
5:05
the sector that shaped the strategy. Well-being, the Welsh language and inclusion
5:08
are fundamental principles of the
5:11
workforce strategy and are golden threads woven into all actions.
5:14
Your feedback made it clear that well-being support
5:18
should be available for all parts of the workforce and
5:21
throughout an employee's time in post, support should be offered
5:24
proactively and not in response to a particular issue.
5:28
The well-being of the team should be looked after and they
5:31
should be given a degree of control and autonomy. Members of
5:34
the workforce should also take responsibility for their own
5:38
health and well-being with relevant support in place.
5:42
Your feedback about the Welsh language was clear. We need to
5:45
change people's perceptions that their Welsh should be perfect
5:48
and we must help people gain the confidence to speak Welsh
5:51
without fearing judgement.
5:53
You want learning Welsh to be seen as a positive and fun opportunity
5:56
that can make an important contribution to your
5:59
work and to the people you support.
6:03
Your feedback confirms that there's still work to be done to
6:06
make the social care sector fully inclusive. We need to do
6:09
more to reach those less heard voices in our workforce, and we
6:13
need to train and educate people at all levels about what true
6:16
inclusion means.
6:20
In terms of the engaged, motivated and healthy workforce,
6:23
it was clear that you want us to continue to prioritise
6:26
well-being and carry on the work already done in the last few years.
6:31
As the workforce becomes more diverse, we must put safeguards
6:35
in place to support people to become and remain valued members
6:38
of an inclusive workforce.
6:41
The sector also made it clear that it wants equal access to
6:44
the well-being offer and parity between social care and health.
6:48
This parity isn't just in pay, but also in wider terms and conditions,
6:51
including more flexibility in working arrangements
6:54
and creative solutions to employment contract offers.
7:00
The workforce wants better ways of gathering their views and
7:03
they want to see action being taken because of those views.
7:07
They were clear that the little things matter as much as the big changes.
7:12
Work has already begun in several important areas where
7:15
we've introduced the Health and Well-being framework where
7:18
employers and employees can measure their organisation
7:20
against an agreed set of standards.
7:24
We have for the first time, a universal mental health support
7:27
service that's free at the point of access for the whole
7:30
workforce across health and social care. We've also built
7:34
peer networks that provide mutual help and support for
7:37
managers to help build resilience.
7:40
We've started essential work around terms and conditions for
7:44
social workers and we've supported the work of the
7:47
Social Care Fair Work forum who are working on a career progression
7:50
framework that in the future aims to be linked to pay.
7:54
We recognise that there's much more to do to make sure that the
7:58
sector is highly valued and the workforce feels appreciated.
8:02
The preventative agenda for well-being is just as important
8:05
as people taking responsibility for their own health and well-being,
8:08
but the workforce needs support, time and space to do this.
8:14
The proposed actions for an engaged, motivated and healthy
8:18
workforce include: Action One, support employers to embed
8:22
workforce well-being in their organisations by implementing
8:26
and refreshing the health and well-being framework.
8:30
Action two, work towards parity, fair reward and recognition through
8:34
the Social Care Fair Work Forum and WGA led considerations of
8:38
social work terms and conditions.
8:43
Action 3, Support workforce well-being by promoting and
8:46
developing well-being resources and services including Canopi
8:50
and the Care Worker Card. Action 4, maintain and develop peer
8:54
support networks, communities and a national conference to
8:58
share different ways of improving workforce well-being.
9:03
Action 5, carry out research and engagement work, including an
9:06
annual independent survey of registered workers, and use what
9:10
we learn to improve our understanding of how to support
9:13
workforce well-being.
9:17
Attraction and recruitment is the second theme, and the
9:20
workforce strategy describes our ambition for the social care
9:23
sector to be a model employer. During our engagement work, you
9:27
told us that retention is just as important as recruitment.
9:31
Looking at the future workforce, you explained that perceptions
9:34
of a career in social care need to change and that the narrative
9:37
about working in the sector needs to be positive.
9:41
You want more of an emphasis on working with schools and
9:44
colleges so that we can talk to young people at the beginning of
9:47
their career journey. You also want to show people the value of
9:51
apprenticeships as a way of entering the social care sector.
9:55
You supported our continued efforts to run pre-employment
9:58
programmes which give those taking part job seeking skills
10:01
and a better understanding of the sector which will hopefully
10:04
help improve retention.
10:07
We need to show that working in social care can be fulfilling,
10:10
rewarding and socially valuable. We're working to make it more
10:14
attractive by improving the overall terms and conditions and
10:17
offering clear career pathways for those who want to progress.
10:21
We want to attract a diverse range of people into careers in social
10:25
care and social work that reflect the communities within
10:28
which they work.
10:30
We also want to support the ambition of Stronger, Fairer,
10:33
Greener Wales, a plan for employability and skills for
10:36
social care to continue to be an important part of the
10:39
foundational economy across Wales.
10:42
This extends to supporting work around international recruitment
10:45
as we look as far and wide as possible for our workforce.
10:50
We know there are big challenges and an enormous amount of work
10:53
to do, but we also know there are around 84,000 people in the
10:57
sector who love the work they do. They provide fantastic
11:00
support day in and day out and are true champions and
11:03
ambassadors for the sector. We need to help them feel proud of
11:06
their work and promote the sector as a positive place to work.
11:11
Over the last couple of years we've used those ambassadors and
11:14
champions in our We Care Wales campaigns to tell positive
11:17
stories about why they work in the sector. These stories have
11:21
been shared far and wide and we've tried to target
11:23
underrepresented groups, including men and Welsh speakers.
11:29
The attraction and recruitment actions include, Action 6
11:33
Provide clear approaches to engagement with the sector to support a
11:37
coordinated approach to attract workers into social care.
11:42
Action 7, Develop and implement plans to continually promote
11:45
social care as a career of choice.
11:49
Action 8, Develop ways of widening access to careers in
11:53
social care, including pathways for volunteers and Action 9.
11:57
Improve sector recruitment practises.
12:02
The third theme is seamless workforce models. Current policy
12:06
makes it clear that we want to provide care at home or as close
12:09
to home as possible. During our engagement work, you were clear
12:13
that there should be a focus on what the person receiving care
12:17
and support and their carers need. You felt that the
12:20
workforce should be given permission to develop and adopt
12:23
new ways of working, including working across professional boundaries.
12:29
Work is taking place to decide what the new ways of working
12:32
across boundaries should look like. Once this is confirmed, we
12:36
can decide on workforce solutions for these new models and service
12:39
designs. It's likely that this change in culture and service
12:43
delivery will take place step by step, and there won't be
12:46
extensive changes overnight, but either way, we need to be ready
12:49
to support the workforce across health and social care to make that transition.
12:56
You asked for a collaborative approach to shared problems, but
12:59
felt that communication was the biggest barrier to seamless
13:03
working. Networking in safe places where people can freely
13:06
explore and share solutions would encourage innovation and
13:09
promote new ways of working. But true, seamless working would
13:13
need to be considered alongside new models of joint commissioning.
13:18
For adults living in our communities, there's a critical
13:21
connection between social care and services such as housing,
13:25
which allow individuals to live as independent lives as
13:28
possible. New approaches such as the Strategic Primary Care
13:32
Programme and the Integrated Community Services mean the
13:35
workforce needs to work differently.
13:39
For vulnerable children, the main aim will always be to help
13:42
families stay together wherever possible. This relies on a
13:46
sufficient and stable social care and social work workforce
13:49
so that families receive meaningful and consistent
13:52
support.
13:54
Where it isn't possible for families to stay together,
13:57
children and young people need a safe and loving environment to
14:00
call home and access to therapeutic support.
14:04
This needs a skilled workforce that offers continuity to build
14:07
meaningful relationships.
14:10
There's significant cross sector development work taking place
14:13
with regards to the transformation of children's
14:16
services, including eliminating profit, making sure there's a
14:19
consistent advocacy offer and enhancing the role of the
14:22
corporate parents.
14:24
Work has already begun to develop the role of trusted
14:28
assessors and to make sure this is supported through relevant
14:31
resources and training. Work has also started around increasing
14:35
access to learning pathways into nursing, reablement roles in
14:39
social care settings and developing trauma informed
14:42
practise.
14:49
The actions for seamless workforce models include Action 10,
14:53
implement initiatives that support working across health
14:56
and social care boundaries.
14:59
Action 11, develop ways of supporting multi professional
15:03
working.
15:05
Action 12, Identify and respond to workforce implications of new
15:09
policy, drivers and service models.
15:15
Building a digitally ready workforce is the 4th theme of
15:18
the workforce strategy. During our engagement work, you told us
15:22
that the pandemic had given us an opportunity to make
15:25
significant progress in the use of digital skills and technology
15:29
and you don't want us to lose momentum.
15:32
You want to make sure that parts of the workforce aren't
15:35
digitally excluded and you want us to make the most of
15:38
opportunities to invest in infrastructure and a skills
15:41
development programme.
15:44
Learning through digital platforms needs to be accessible
15:47
and bite sized learning opportunities help with this
15:50
approach. It creates greater equity of access, as does the
15:53
use of mobile technology.
15:55
The message was clear that one size doesn't fit all.
15:59
We've supported the sector in the shift to digital through
16:03
targeted increases in funding and by developing national
16:06
learning modules to make sure content is consistent. More
16:10
needs to be done, but it must reflect what the workforce
16:13
needs, which varies as not everyone uses and accesses
16:16
digital content in the same way.
16:19
This was clear and the shift of digital learning research the
16:23
Social Care Institute for Excellence, carried out for us
16:26
in 2020.
16:32
Building a digitally ready workforce actions include Action 13,
16:36
implement ways to enhance the digital literacy and confidence
16:41
of the wider health and social care workforce in Wales. Action 14
16:45
create opportunities to widen access to digital learning and
16:50
development.
16:51
And Action 15, Find out what digital skills are needed to
16:55
implement new digital service models.
17:00
The 5th theme is excellent education and learning, and
17:03
making learning and development available to more people was a
17:07
common theme in the feedback you gave us. You told us that
17:10
equality and inclusion was important for the current and
17:13
future workforce and we needed to offer more opportunities for
17:17
you to learn Welsh and improve your Welsh language skills. We
17:21
also need to treat learning, development and CPD with the
17:24
same level of importance as qualifications. Your feedback
17:27
showed us how important it was to have clear career pathways
17:31
linked to learning. It's important that it's easy for you to move from
17:35
learning and developing skills that are jobs specific to more
17:38
formal qualifications.
17:40
This means we should consider the opportunities for Grow Your Own
17:44
development models that give the current workforce the chance
17:47
to learn while they earn. This would address concerns about
17:50
the financial pressures linked to learning and the debt that
17:53
can come with more traditional full-time learning programmes.
17:58
To professionalise the social care workforce, you felt you
18:01
needed more support to grow the capacity of the sector to assess
18:05
and educate for all vocational and professional pathways. We've
18:09
already made more support available regionally and locally
18:13
through our workforce development programme. This is
18:16
both in terms of grant and non grant elements of the programme
18:20
and focuses on sponsored places for the social work degree.
18:26
Along with the increased bursaries from Welsh Government
18:30
were trying to make the professional pathways more
18:33
accessible and attractive to a wider range of learners, but we
18:37
recognise more is needed. We've carried out significant work to
18:41
support the sector with the health and social care
18:44
vocational qualifications that were introduced in 2019 and 2020,
18:48
and this year changes were made to how Level 2 and Level 3
18:52
are assessed. Further work is also planned soon on Level 4 and
18:56
Level 5 qualifications.
18:59
Excellent education and learning actions include, Action 16
19:03
work with education providers to make sure education meets the needs
19:07
of the health and social care system and includes programmes
19:10
offered in Welsh. Action 17 continue to invest in increasing
19:14
the numbers of health and social care professionals who are
19:18
trained in Wales with a focus on value.
19:23
Action 18 make it easier for people to start health and
19:27
social care careers by removing barriers and developing the work
19:31
based learning model, and Action 19 develop ways of improving the
19:35
workforce skills and knowledge.
19:39
Leadership and succession is the 6th theme of the Workforce
19:43
Strategy. In line with the Workforce Strategy, we worked
19:46
with HEIW to agree Compassionate Leadership Principles and the
19:49
Compassionate Leadership Behaviour Compass, which
19:52
explains how to create compassionate leaders and
19:55
cultures in health and social care. All national leadership
19:58
and development programmes for social care and social work
20:02
managers and leaders are based on these principles.
20:06
During the engagement with the sector, it was refreshing to
20:09
hear that there is universal support for the way we use and
20:12
promote compassionate leadership. But the work force
20:15
wants compassionate leadership roles to be modelled from top to
20:19
bottom and space to use compassionate leadership even
20:22
in high pressure situations.
20:24
You also felt we need to focus on making a compassionate team
20:28
culture that reflects leadership values and finds ways of
20:31
rewarding people who don't want to become leaders or managers,
20:34
but who want to remain in practise.
20:38
You thought that developing the Gwella site was very positive,
20:41
but it wasn't well known about and needed to be marketed
20:45
better. This would help to make the most of it and create a
20:48
culture of compassionate leadership and organisational
20:51
development.
20:53
There was strong feedback about the need for local workforce
20:56
planning to include succession planning, the benefits of joint
21:00
leadership development across health and social care, and
21:03
thorough ways of mentoring new managers and leaders focusing on
21:07
well-being.
21:09
We know that social care organisations that practise and
21:12
embed compassionate and collective leadership have a
21:15
more engaged workforce, which leads to better health outcomes for people.
21:19
To have a strong social care service, we need to
21:22
have compassionate leadership at all levels and professional
21:25
groups.
21:29
Leadership and succession actions include Action 20 Create
21:32
accessible leadership development resources and
21:36
programmes for individuals and organisations based on
21:39
compassionate leadership principles.
21:43
Action 21 Develop a talent management pipeline for
21:46
leadership roles and Action 22 Find ways to support services to
21:51
develop and embed positive cultures.
21:57
The final theme of the workforce strategy is workforce supply and
22:00
shape. Workforce planning should be a core function of workforce
22:04
supply and demand based on service planning and modelling.
22:07
But you felt that we don't understand our workforce well
22:10
enough or have the data and intelligence that helps us to
22:13
plan the workforce effectively.
22:16
This includes being confident about predictions of how many
22:19
people are needed to work in the sector in the future when taking
22:23
into account the expected growing demand for services. It
22:26
isn't just about the numbers, but about understanding what
22:30
people can offer across sectors, including skills and
22:33
capabilities, gaps and areas of duplication.
22:37
You felt that volunteers are an important part of workforce
22:40
planning and we need to be more inclusive of them. This includes
22:43
providing learning and development opportunities and
22:46
career pathways for volunteers where needed.
22:50
Our responses to workforce issues tend to be reactive, but
22:53
we know that we need a clear and up-to-date picture of our
22:56
current workforce and to better understand why workers change
23:00
employers or leave the sector.
23:02
We've started to get more current and detailed workforce
23:06
data, but this is still a work in progress. We need to find
23:09
ways to turn that data into something we can use when
23:12
workforce planning locally, regionally and nationally.
23:16
This isn't just about employment. Better ways of
23:19
workforce planning will help us to decide how we commission
23:22
services and how we commission education and learning
23:25
opportunities, so we're not only able to recruit from an existing
23:29
population, but also have enough people in the education system
23:33
to meet future demands.
23:35
Implementing workforce actions from 'Mwy na Geiriau' includes
23:38
improving baseline data on Welsh language skills so that we're
23:42
able to plan for an inclusive and diverse workforce.
23:48
Workforce Supply and Shape actions include Action 23,
23:52
build capacity and capability in workforce planning and
23:55
development across health and social care, supported by a
23:59
standardised approach.
24:02
Action 24 Develop workforce responses for professionals and
24:06
key parts of the sector.
24:08
And Action 25, find out what a National Care Service would mean
24:12
for the workforce.
24:17
We need your views for the workforce strategy for social care.
24:20
As part of your consultation responses, we would
24:23
like you to consider the following questions.
24:27
Do you think the actions will support the ambition of the
24:29
workforce strategy?
24:31
How can they be strengthened?
24:34
What actions need to be added?
24:37
What do we need to consider when we implement the actions?
24:41
And do you have any further comments?
24:46
In addition to this webinar, we have a dedicated consultation
24:49
web page where you can access all the relevant information.
24:53
If you'd like to have your say about the proposed actions,
24:56
there are various ways for you to respond.
24:59
You can complete the consultation document and e-mail
25:02
it back to us. You can complete an online consultation form, or
25:05
you can also send us your views in a different format if it's
25:09
easier for you. For example, you can write to us or send a video
25:13
or audio recording.
25:15
If you need a copy of the consultation in a different
25:18
format or have any questions, you are welcome to contact us.
25:22
The closing date for the consultation is midnight on the
25:26
25th of June 2023.
25:29
Thank you for listening. If you have any questions, please
25:33
contact us at workforcestrategy@socialcare.wales
