According to NHS England, there were 407,000 applications submitted to work in the healthcare service last month alone. That was an increase of 13,500 in the same month last year. Visits to the NHS jobs website have also soared.
The Department of Health and Social Care has also launched a national recruitment campaign that aims to raise awareness of the opportunities that are available within the social care sector.
Currently, there are over 120,000 social care vacancies available across England, with the outbreak of COVID-19 creating an even greater demand than before.
A survey of frontline adult social care providers by Care Management Matters found that based on the 211 providers who responded:
- 34% of providers reported they urgently needed more staff
- On average, the providers reported 25% of their workforce was currently unable to work due to COVID related issues (i.e self-isolating due to having symptoms)
- 54% were taking on temporary staff
- 39% of providers noted an increase in applications
- 36% of providers also noted volunteers coming forward – although many (49%) were not sure how best to utilise them yet
NHS England: Jump in NHS job applications as public back coronavirus battle
DHSC: Adult social care recruitment care campaign launched to boost workforce