A steeply rising cost of living. Wage cuts across all sectors. These rising pressures are aggravating what is long known to be a crisis for the Supported Housing sector: a dire shortage of support staff.
But the government has been forced to pay attention. And some attention it has paid.
In 2022, a £20 million funding program was announced for improving the quality of supported housing.
But while this injection of money will—in a limited way—help to attract & recruit more staff, the reality is:
That’s only half of the problem solved.
The job of taking the time to find the right fit, managing staff, and covering for no-shows—these time drains remain with service providers.
But those are exactly the parts where AGS Support can help.
Trusted by Greater London Authority, Depaul UK, and Lookahead—we provide flexible, fully-managed staffing solutions so your residents get the quality of care they deserve, and you get your peace of mind.
More on that later—first, to understand the Big Problem:
Staffing shortages in supported housing are getting worse
That supported housing is facing a national crisis of staff shortages is not new news.
But Skillsforcare’s latest report on the state of the adult social care sector & workforce in England is showing it’s getting worse.
Compared to 2020/21, 2022 has seen vacancies increase by 52%.
While the number of job posts have increased, even less of those are getting filled.
So while there’s a rising demand for staff, there’s also a rising difficulty in recruiting and retaining them.
The question: why is staffing shortages worsening in the sector?
One of many answers, but perhaps the most pertinent:
A cost-of-living crisis makes the low-pay, demanding work of social care even less attractive.
More staff? That solves only half of the problem
With the aforementioned government funding for the supported housing sector allowing for higher, more attractive wages:
More staff will be at hand.
And even if we go so far as to say service providers reach the Staffing Promise Land, it’s eye-opening to realise what that does and what it doesn’t.
What it does:
— Put more feet on the ground
— Bring cover for vulnerable residents
— Take away the stress of being short on support
What it doesn’t do:
— Put more trained staff on the ground
— Bring experienced, high-quality cover for vulnerable residents
— Take away the stress of managing staff & covering for no-shows
And here’s a big thing: the ‘management’ part of supported housing is something only managers realise (as they’re the ones fully taking it on).
Worrying about who will cover the night shift at 6 pm.
Spending the day searching for new staff.
Constantly getting calls from staff who need your support.
All of that and more: takes your time away from your residents, from your delivery of services, and from the rest of your team.
The management of staff—it doesn’t have to be your burden
This problem that’s always been on the shoulders of service provider managers: that is exactly what AGS Support evolved to solve.
Being in the industry as support staffing providers for 25 years, we always knew how crucial the right fit of workers was.
Highly-trained, compassionate but firm workers with experience under their belt—not just ‘candidates’.
But as we provided cover over the years, we realised:
What managers really needed was someone to manage that cover.
And so that became the core of our speciality:
A flexible, full-managed support staffing service.
Working with various big and small housing associations, homelessness charities, youth charities, and councils—we provide & entirely manage support staff to make sure:
— You’re 100% covered
— Your residents are always high-quality, supported
— You, as a manager, can walk away from your facility with peace of mind
Need trusted staffing providers to guarantee your cover and take the management stress away from you?