More care home managers needed in Wales

The Care Council for Wales have launched their third profile of adult care home managers written using the data available from the Register of Social Care Workers (Register) at June 2014.

The report is expected to generate significant discussion about next steps to ensure a sustainable workforce to provide leadership and management for adult care homes in Wales.

One of the main findings in the data is that too few managers are qualifying to replace the managers who have left. At the reporting date of 1 June 2014 there were 1,255 registered as adult care home managers;  a net increase of 54 qualified managers. However, with too few managers qualifing in the year to replace the managers who left, the numbers were made up by managers moving from England.

There was not yet a manager registered with the Care Council at every service in Wales. However, there is a growing pool of qualified managers in deputy and assistant posts who could potentially fill vacancies as they arise.

The maturity of many of the managers draws attention, for the third year, to the imperative to plan to meet future needs in Wales.

Since the last adult care home manager profile, the Care Council has been working with social care managers, employers and representative bodies on drafting a framework for the development of social care managers. Consultation on this work has led to further research and analysis to help the Care Council understand the future need for social care managers in Wales and how this can be met.

This work has also prompted the development of a proposal to help create a greater pool of potential social care managers through a preparation for management course.
This would provide training, either on leadership and management in social care or leading social care practice, depending on participants’ previous experience.

Further discussions are being held to agree the best models for delivery of such training and potential sources of funding.

Click here to download the Adult Care Home Manager Profile 2014