Markel UK report highlights six areas of improvement in social-care sector

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Though the pandemic may be in the rearview mirror for most of us, the after-effects of it are still in the front window for those in the social-care sector

THE CRACKS in the United Kingdom’s social-care sector were evident even before anyone had ever heard of COVID-19. But when the first wave hit in early 2020, the cracks grew wider and even split apart in some areas. Social-care workers felt burned out. Resources were stretched. Feeling overwhelmed, some workers left. Even after the pandemic was declared over by the World Health Organization, funding has not risen to where it needs to be to cover the costs of social care. And the fallout continues. That is why Markel UK commissioned a newly published report, The Care Sector: Navigating Turbulent Times: An Insight Report from Markel UK, which took a deep dive into the pressing concerns of social-care management and staff, post-pandemic. Research for the report was in two parts. The first phase consisted of one-on-one, hour-long telephone interviews conducted with 12 high-level executives and senior decision-makers in UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) care businesses. A second round of interviews took the form of a quantitative 20-question survey with 200 senior decision-makers and high-level executives.

Based in London, Markel UK is a specialist insurer and part of a financially strong “A” rated company, serving regional brokers and UK businesses with insurance solutions. Protecting their customers, providing peace of mind, and creating certainty is at the heart of what they do. Markel seeks to know customers’ needs and provide them with a unique range of services with market-leading covers at their core. Markel is committed to building strong, long-lasting relationships and values the ability to provide customers with local knowledge and a physical presence in their local regions. By focusing its energies on specific sectors for more than 25 years, Markel has both the experience and insight into long-term risk performance, which enables it to provide competitive and sustainable pricing for customers of all shapes and sizes.

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“Central to the report is an understanding of the vital role care providers play in society, tirelessly ensuring the well-being and dignity of the people they support – be that older people, children and young people, or people of working age”

Vic Rayner, National Care Forum

The insightful Markel report delves into the complexities and opportunities that lie within the care sector, shedding new light on a path forward. “Central to the report is an understanding of the vital role care providers play in society, tirelessly ensuring the well-being and dignity of the people they support – be that older people, children and young people, or people of working age,” wrote Vic Rayner, CEO of the National Care Forum, in his foreword to the report. “Financial constraints, workforce shortages, regulatory changes and increasing demand are some of the pressures they face.” The report broke down several issues of concern, detailing what those on the frontlines were saying:

The impact of COVID: 51 percent of respondents cited this choice as having the biggest impact on the sector’s ability to provide social care, three times as many as chose the runner-up, the cost of living, at 17 percent. “We’re such an exhausted, overworked industry, because everyone is acting like COVID is over, but for care homes, it isn’t,” said Palvi Dohdla, director of Serene Care, a residential-care-home provider specialising in dementia care for elderly people. “I’ve not had a break in three years. I’m just tired and burnt out.” Cost of living: 35 percent of respondents said that, by far, the biggest impact the rise in living costs will have on social care is on the health of vulnerable people. Those working with vulnerable adults were the most likely to select this answer, reaching 45

percent in that sub-sector. “People are going to become sicker more quickly and develop worse outcomes,” said Adrian Hayter, national clinical director, NHS England. The report also discovered the rising cost of fuel was having a big impact on budgets. One care-home group allocated £750,000 for their fuel bill this year, but it is now costing £1.8 million – and care homes often have to run the heat 24/7.

The workforce shortage and funding: Staffing and funding issues have a big impact on an organisation’s ability to deliver services. The most common way to mitigate these issues was by capping new clients (32 percent), while 29 percent of survey respondents said they were providing only basic services. This was seen to be most prevalent in children’s services (37 percent) and among smaller organisations (57 percent). “We’re just not getting enough staff. There aren’t people applying for the job anymore, and also people aren’t there – it’s not a job for life anymore,” said Palvi Dodhla. Almost half (48 percent of) survey respondents said that the best way to retain staff was to provide a benefits package. Better working conditions were selected by 46 percent of survey respondents, followed by respecting training qualifications, at 41 percent. Higher pay was only the fourth-most-popular answer at 40 percent, although in the elderly care sector it is seen as more important (48 percent) than qualifications (35 percent). Perception of social care: All sectors surveyed agreed that the public’s perception of social care has improved in the past five years, with 70 percent agreeing, compared with 21 percent who said it had worsened and 9 percent who said it had stayed the same. The vulnerable adults’ sector was the most positive, with 81 percent saying it had improved, compared to 59 percent in elderly care. “We need to have a workforce that is recognised for what they do,” said Adrian Hayter. “That workforce has a lot of responsibility in terms of direct care of individuals. They need to be skilled and trained. For me, someone who is caring for an older person needs a much greater degree of skill than someone who is working on a till in a supermarket, because that kind of care requires investment in training and support.”

Economic and environmental sustainability: Keeping afloat means being able to continue to offer some level of service to clients, and to be able to fight another day. As it is, the poll found that 9 percent of service providers indicated that they are no longer able to continue delivering services (this is more prevalent among small organisations (14 percent) and in the English South West. The top three ways that respondents said they believed would help them become more economically sustainable were investment in technology (42 percent), better integration across NHS and social care (39 percent), and bigger, specialist providers (38 percent). “Over the last year, there are three providers of children and young people services in Scotland that have closed, which in clear terms is 10 percent of services that have closed their doors,” said Stephen Drysdale, director, Moore House Group. “Without exception, that’s been because of the financial pressures, which could not be sustained.”

The report also offered several solutions and strategies for dealing with both long- and short-term structural issues within the social-care sector.

Published February 26, 2024

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“We’re such an exhausted, overworked industry, because everyone is acting like COVID is over, but for the care home, it isn’t”

Palvi Dohdla, Serene Care

Shining a spotlight on post-pandemic complexities

Finding solutions, together

1. Higher pay is not the leading or the only solution to the recruitment problems facing the sector; a better benefits package would make it easier to retain staff. 2. A nationally approved social-care qualification was the more popular choice among several ideas to help improve the perception of social care. 3. Greater use of technology was seen as a way to help address cost rises for staff and providers, with 49 percent selecting this as a potential solution. 4. Technology was also thought to have a significant impact on improving communication and service provision. 5. The main barriers to greater technology adoption were perceptions around older people’s appetite for technology use, commissioners’ expertise, and the workforce’s reluctance to learn a new way of working. 6. Investment in technology and integration with the NHS was seen as a way to financial sustainability.

With interest in, and the abilities of, AI having exploded in the past year, and how remote health services grew in strength during the pandemic, the future of social care may look quite different than the picture we have come to think about when we think of social care. “If there are not enough professional carers in future to support an ageing population, I’d rather have a robot if it means I can stay home and still live reasonably independently, rather than have to go into residential care,” said Jane Towson, chief executive of the Homecare Association, in the report. To read the full report, please click here.

Survey highlights looking at UK’s care sector

Markel UK commissioned market researchers to carry out a quantitative 20-question survey with 200 senior decision-makers and high-level executives. Here are some of the top results:

Source: The Care Sector: Navigating Turbulent Times: An Insight Report from Markel UK.

49% of respondents believed greater use of technology is a potential solution to help address cost rises for staff and providers. 51% of respondents believed COVID and its after-effects are still having the biggest impact on the sector’s ability to provide social care. 24% of respondents said the biggest impact of COVID was caused by the infection and protection control measures, meaning they had to limit visits. 35% of respondents said that the biggest impact the rise in living costs will have on social care is on the health of vulnerable people. 17% of respondents are reducing the number of clients/service users in order to continue to deliver services safely. 31% of respondents said the NHS was seen as a higher priority (than social care) because of its greater visibility. 28% of respondents saw the main barrier as being the perception that older people will not want to use technology. 95% of respondents said a national approved social-care qualification would be an effective way to improve perception of social care. 55% of respondents in our survey thought the care cap will bring in fairer charges between those who self-fund and those who are funded. 33% of respondents in our survey said the care cap sounds like good news for people who won’t have to sell their homes to pay for care, but it won’t address the funding problems within the industry.

Source: The Care Sector: Navigating Turbulent Times: An Insight Report from Markel UK

51%: COVID and its after-effects

17%: The cost-of-living crisis

13%: Poor perception of social care

13%: Workforce shortage

8%: Lack of funding

Survey results on impacts on social care

Markel UK’s survey also asked what, if anything, in the view of the respondents, was having the biggest impact on the ability to provide social care in the UK right now?

Survey highlights looking at UK’s care sector

Markel UK commissioned market researchers to carry out a quantitative 20-question survey with 200 senior decision-makers and high-level executives. Here are some of the top results:

Source: The Care Sector: Navigating Turbulent Times: An Insight Report from Markel UK

31% of respondents said the NHS was seen as a higher priority (than social care) because of its greater visibility. 28% of respondents saw the main barrier as being the perception that older people will not want to use technology. 95% of respondents said a national approved social-care qualification would be an effective way to improve perception of social care. 55% of respondents in our survey thought the care cap will bring in fairer charges between those who self-fund and those who are funded. 33% of respondents in our survey said the care cap sounds like good news for people who won’t have to sell their homes to pay for care, but it won’t address the funding problems within the industry.