Skills for Care response to CQC's The state of health care and adult social care in England 2021/22 report

Today’s CQC report does recognise most people are still receiving good care when they can access it. Our annual State of report revealed the adult social care workforce has shrunk by 50,000 for the first time.

The report also references data from our Adult Social Care Workforce Dataset showing 165,000 vacancies in adult social care, and we agree with their assessment that we need to think creatively about how to attract and retain staff with the right values, including better pay, rewards and training linked to career progression.

CQC clearly acknowledges the vital role of the 1.5 million people who work in adult social care. They deliver high quality, joined up services every day, including timely hospital discharges. We will work with CQC and other sector partners to make sure that everyone who draws on care on health and care support can access services that meet their needs.