The adult social care sector is being urged to complete a new workforce survey to capture its experiences and support improvements over time.

Skills for Care, in partnership with Ipsos and The University of Kent, have launched the survey on behalf of the Government’s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

The survey is open to people working in any care-related role across all settings in adult social care, including personal assistants and employees in local authority adult social care departments.

The survey will contribute to the Government’s understanding of working conditions and experiences for the adult social care workforce – such as working hours, pay, capacity and training – and the forms of support which could make adult social care a better place to work.

The data collected through the survey will aid Government’s decisions on how to support the adult social care sector and workforce. Skills for Care highlights that this is an important opportunity for everyone working in adult social care to share their own experience of working in care and help to shape future offers of support.

Oonagh Smyth, Chief Executive Officer at Skills for Care, commented,

‘We are pleased to provide this important opportunity for everyone working in social care to share their experiences with the Government to inform its thinking on policies that will better support people working in social care, and in turn people who draw on care and support. Thank you to our sector partners who have made this possible.

‘For maximum impact, we need the support of everyone working in social care and so we encourage as many of you as possible to complete the survey and to provide support and encouragement for your team members to share their views.’

Health Minister, Lord Markham, said, ‘The social care sector is built on its dedicated workforce and we’re investing millions to attract people to careers in care and retain the huge amount of talent we already have.

‘But we couldn’t do that effectively without listening to the people working in care. Theirs are the most important voices and I urge anyone working in an adult social care role to take part in this survey.

‘I want care to be a profession, with fantastic training, career paths and opportunities to progress. By taking on board the views of care staff, we’ll know more about their experiences and can look at ways to make that reality.’

Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, Professor Deborah Sturdy, said, ‘To build a social care workforce fit for the future, we need to listen to current staff members, whose hard work and dedication is the cornerstone of the care sector.

‘I don’t want care work to just be a job, I want it to be a long-term career choice. This survey will expand our knowledge of what is working well for staff as well as, crucially, where additional support can be provided to keep the skilled professionals we already have and bring more people into care roles.’

Margaret Blake, Research Director at Ipsos, said, ‘Ipsos is very pleased to be carrying out the first national Government survey of the adult social care workforce which will provide valuable evidence for DHSC in tackling the challenges facing the sector.

‘We have worked closely with Skills for Care and University of Kent to develop a survey which reflects the issues and pressures facing the workforce, and is straightforward and interesting to complete. We are grateful for the input of people from across the sector who have reviewed and given us feedback on the questions.’

The survey is available to complete now on the Ipsos website.