Written evidence submitted by Profiles4Care Limited (RTR0127)

Introduction & reasoning for submission:

Profiles4Care (P4C) was founded in 2015 & is unique in providing ‘values-based recruitment profiling’ to the health & social care sector, online via our proprietary web-based technology.  Our solution, aligned to the Leadership Qualities Framework (LQF) and the Care Act, focuses on three key reports, Frontline Worker, Frontline Leader and Operational Leader, thus addressing all levels of staff recruitment in the sector.  Our solution is delivered to Employers on-line, significantly reducing time-to-hire, enabling wider pool of candidates to be assessed, locally, nationally or internationally and delivers cost savings during the recruitment process through to retention of those workers recruited using our solution.  We firmly believe in excess of £150 million of savings can be achieved through the implementation of P4C across the sector. 

P4C is responding to this inquiry to provide visibility of our values-based recruitment & retention solution, how it can positively impact the sector and the cost savings it can deliver, as proven and stated by Skills for Care following the independent evaluation conducted, “values-based recruitment’ delivers £1.23 per £1.00 invested”.   

Response to call for evidence:

• What are the main steps that must be taken to recruit the extra staff that are needed across the health and social care sectors in the short, medium and long-term?

For DHSC to implement a robust & ‘top down’ approach/solution to a ‘values-based’ recruitment & retention program thus allowing employers across the sector access to a much larger pool of candidates locally, nationally & internationally.  Remove the preconception that a worker must have X years of experience, Y levels of qualifications and recruit people with the right values at the outset, thus increasing retention. 

• What is the best way to ensure that current plans for recruitment, training and retention are able to adapt as models for providing future care change?

DHSC to invest, own & support the sector, leveraging central buying power, and giving clear strategic guidance to employers.  Creating a ‘tool-kit’ to enable effective recruitment & training that will ultimately drive retention short, medium & long term.  Investing in one area and not as a combined solution, is false economies and leads to a revolving door for employers and workers alike. 

• What is the correct balance between domestic and international recruitment of health and social care workers in the short, medium and long term?

Our direct experience of this is limited to two clients who have successfully implemented a values-based approach to international recruitment by translating our solution for the Spanish and Italian markets.  The client concerned hired a significant number of workers, very successfully, increasing their retention levels by over 28% in year 1.  Through central investment with the objective to recruit the right people with the right values at the outset, this balance is needed to fill the 100,000 vacancies across the sector, and having a consistent approach for all, this is achievable and we believe the balance should be 60% local, 40% international. 

• What can the Government do to make it easier for staff to be recruited from countries from which it is ethically acceptable to recruit, with trusted training programmes?

Government can detail ‘key roles’ that allow an ‘ease of passage’ for international candidates to be hired and to work in the sector.  A consistent approach to ensure fair treatment and opportunity is presented to candidates while ensuring employers carrying out international recruitment are delivering accredited training & development for those workers. 

• What changes could be made to the initial and ongoing training of staff in the health and social care sectors in order to help increase the number of staff working in these sectors? In particular:
• To what extent is there an adequate system for determining how many doctors, nurses and allied health professionals should be trained to meet long-term need?
• Do the curriculums for training doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals need updating to ensure that staff have the right mix of skills?
• Could the training period for doctors be reduced?
• Should the cap on the number of medical places offered to international and domestic students be removed?

P4C are not in a position to respond to the above points and respectfully decline a response. 

• What are the principal factors driving staff to leave the health and social care sectors and what could be done to address them?

Feedback from employers across the sector has common factors, such as:

• Poor pay for work being undertaken/directed to perform
• Workload is over whelming
• Lack of appreciation

There are may others factors impacting this at local and regional levels but to address the above, will aid retention.  Improved pay will assist, we see workers changing jobs in some instances for £1 more per hour!  Engaging more workers, spreads the workload providing they are the right workers from the outset.  Improved pay, across the right number of workers employed, removes perception of a lack of appreciation. 

• Are there specific roles, and/or geographical locations, where recruitment and retention are a particular problem and what could be done to address this?

Feedback from employers nationally, all concerns are consistent irrespective of role or location.  Clearly there are local & regional shortages of specific roles but given the proposals to address ways to ‘widen the pool’ of candidates in the UK and supported through international recruitment activity, will start to mitigate this, but as mentioned already, ensuring we have consistent approach, strategy & processes, endorsed centrally, will deliver against this need. 

• What should be in the next iteration of the NHS People Plan, and a people plan for the social care sector, to address the recruitment, training and retention of staff?

The NHS People plan, in our opinion focuses on the NHS specifically, not on critical workers across the social care sector, this is where the inconsistency exists and struggles have been highlighted through the pandemic.  Either there needs to be one plan for the sector, as a whole, or define & support separate strategies for the two, not what we believe to be the right approach.  There needs to be distinctions but there is no question there are consistencies and these need to be maximised and leveraged from central government buying power. 

• To what extent are the contractual and employment models used in the health and social care sectors fit for the purpose of attracting, training, and retaining the right numbers of staff with the right skills?

Zero hours contracts are not fit for purpose in health & social care.  Given the nature of the roles, the pay being offered and the inconsistent approach to recruitment and training, is a detractor for candidates who want to work in the sector and is only attracting those who are ‘desperate’ for work and as many employers state, “they have arms, legs, available for shift(s), you are hired” irrespective of any checks or values-based assessment.  Hence the number of ‘Mid Staffordshire’ inquiries that have arisen, which could have been avoided and the opportunity to do so, is now, given this unique inquiry. 

• What is the role of integrated care systems in ensuring that local health and care organisations attract and retain staff with the right mix of skills?

Experience to date with integrated care across local and care organisations is non-existent. There is no clear ‘joined-up’ thinking or discussion between organisation, thus the significant challenge presented today in terms of getting patients out of hospital into appropriate care support, be it at home or residential, evidences this lack of co-ordination.  If central government can devise, agree and implement a robust approach to recruitment and retention, across the sector, aside of improving systems between organisations, will ensure the right people are recruited from the outset, with the right mix of skills to significantly improve and address this challenge. 

Close response from Profile4Care Limited.

Thank you for taking the time to read and we have endeavoured to keep it succinct and welcome the opportunity to expand and elaborate on any or all responses contained herein. 

For any further clarity or queries, please contact directly as follow:

Marc Jones

Jan 2022

Commercial in Confidence – Profiles4Care Limited – 19 January 2022