To ask the Minister of Health to detail the steps that have been taken to train, recruit and retain care staff during the current Assembly mandate.

Staffing levels continue to be a significant challenge across the health and social care sector. My officials continue to work to maximise current capacity in social care and to engage with service providers in regard to addressing those ongoing issues of recruitment and retention. This is only possible with a skilled and dedicated workforce.

In recognition of the challenges facing the independent social care sector, I recently announced a £70m funding package across a range of service provision, including domiciliary care. The purpose of this funding is to ensure independent sector providers have the necessary funding to meet the challenges of increases to national living wage from the beginning of April. I have also established structures to consider how we move the sector to a Real Living Wage employer base and significant work is ongoing to build the case for the additional funding that will be required to deliver this.

In recognition of the fundamental need to deliver reform and transformation in Health and Social Care, my Department has established the Adult Social Care Collaborative Forum and the Children’s Strategic Reform Board. Within these fora, workstreams have been established focusing on supporting, developing and improving the social care workforce. The Adult social care workforce workstream is also scoping how we can improve recruitment of international social care staff.

These workstreams are implementing a range of measures that include:

Publishing a Social Care Workforce Strategy which will set out a vision to develop a sustainable social care workforce over the next 10 years. The strategy will include actions to develop career pathways, support the training and education of the workforce, and to raise the profile and recognition of the social care workforce as a skilled and competent workforce. It is anticipated that the Strategy will be published in late 2024.

In partnership with the Northern Ireland Social Care Council, work is ongoing to develop the training, career and qualification pathways for the social care workforce.

In partnership with all stakeholders’ social care campaigns are ongoing to raise the profile and recognise the significant contribution that the social care workforce provides.

In addition, the Social Care Fair Work Forum has also been established which will seek to embed Fair Work initiatives and improve the terms and conditions for everyone employed across all parts of the social care sector.