For UK social care providers
You cannot fill rotas on goodwill alone when every departure costs thousands to replace
Low pay, burnout, and no clear career ladder push care workers out the door faster than you can replace them. Agency cover papers over the gap whilst quietly draining your operating budget.
Two minutes. Solva follows up with specific retention and recruitment options.
- High reliance on expensive agency staff to fill shifts
- Frequent staff burnout and increased sickness absence
- Difficulty maintaining consistent care quality and meeting CQC standards
- Negative feedback from service users and their families about staff changes
- Increased workload and stress for existing staff leading to burnout
- Reduced capacity to deliver services and expand provision
- Increased spending on agency staff (often 20-50% higher than permanent staff)
- Higher recruitment costs due to frequent turnover
- Increased risk of care errors due to inexperienced staff
- Reduced continuity of care impacting patient well-being
- Negative public perception and reduced trust in the organisation
- Difficulty attracting new clients and staff
The adult social care sector in England had 131,000 vacant posts in 2023/24, a vacancy rate of 8.3% (Skills for Care, 2024)
Frequently asked questions
Why does this problem persist?
Social care has a structural workforce crisis - low pay, high physical and emotional demands, and limited career progression make it difficult to recruit and retain staff. The sector competes with retail and hospitality for the same workers.
What is the cost of leaving it unaddressed?
Recruiting a new care worker costs providers an estimated median of £7,870 per hire, including recruitment, training and agency costs (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2026)
This is exactly what I do with UK private practices. Answer the few questions above and I'll come back personally with where to start. Paul.