338,520 social carers quit in 2015-16, figures show

According to data collated by Skills for Care and analysed by the BBC, an average of 928 adult social care workers a day quit their job in England last year.

The news comes as care providers are warning that growing staff shortages mean vulnerable people are receiving poorer levels of care, with the chair of the UK Homecare Association claiming the adult social care system has begun to collapse.

Those who provide care to people directly in their own homes, or in nursing homes, say a growing shortage of staff means people face receiving deteriorating levels of care.

The data also indicated that: 60 per cent of those leaving a job left working in the adult social care sector altogether; the average full-time frontline care worker earned £7.69 an hour, or £14,800 a year; one in every four social care workers was employed on a zero hours contract; and that there was an estimated shortage of
84,320 care workers, meaning around one in every 20 care roles remained vacant.

In a letter to Prime Minister Theresa May, Mike Padgham the chair of the UK Homecare Association urged: "My biggest fear is that we will soon run out of capacity to provide care to those who cannot fund themselves.

"I agree wholeheartedly with Age UK's warning that the social care system will begin to collapse this year, but I would go further and say that the system has already begun to collapse."

A Department of Health spokesperson said: "Social care jobs have increased at an average of 3 per cent a year since 2010, but we want to see improvements in turnover rates, with talented staff attracted to a robust sector backed by an additional £2 billion over the next three years.

"Meanwhile, we're investing in the workforce of the future, with a total of 87,800 apprentices starting last year - up 37,300 compared to 2010.”