‘Sector change has few positives’

Only one in fourteen social care professionals believe that changes implemented since 2007 have had a positive impact on the sector, according to Randstad Care, the specialist recruiter.

The survey of 2,000 UK staff examining attitudes to change in the workplace, revealed that social care professionals are some of the least positive in the UK when it comes to the impact of change in their sector implemented since the start of recession. Only 7% of social care staff believe change has had a positive impact compared to 16% of wider UK workforce. Three fifths (61%) of social care professionals say change has had a negative impact over the last few years.

Nearly three quarters (75%) of social care professionals say that the most significant impact has been felt as a result of changes to funding. The second most significant impact, identified by over half (53%) of social care staff, has been to do with changes to workloads and the targets set in order to assess staff.

Victoria Short, Managing Director of Randstad Care, said: “The key changes in the sector since 2007 have been focussed on funding and the targets social care professionals are having to work towards. These changes have been introduced in order to create a social care sector service that is able to operate in an austere environment while maintaining standards.

“While many social care staff appreciate that change is necessary to operate effectively and are encouraging further change in the coming years, it seems that engaging those working within the sector and communicating the benefits of change has been lacking and needs to be addressed in the future.”