Adult Social Care Workforce Survey (ASCWS)

All Datasets All Measures

Measures describe a question asked to a participant during a survey or an item of information requested from a manager when they fill out a data return. For example, ‘Who do you live with?’ is a measure and the possible responses might be, mother, father, brother, sister etc.

Need/provision/receipt	Description of measure	Start Year	Age range	Age from	Age to	Informant	Multiple rater	Reporting term	Sweep title	Standard instrument	Question/Data item	Response scale	Dataset
Provision;	Provider views - challenges accessing agency staff	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	Compared to April 2021, how would you describe the current level of workforce challenges in your service or location for Accessing Agency Staff, if/when needed. (tick ONLY ONE response) by region	Much more challenging More challenging About the same Less challenging Much less challenging Unsure N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - challenges maintaining morale	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	Compared to April 2021, how would you describe the current level of workforce challenges in your service or location for Maintaining Morale? (tick ONLY one response) by region	Much more challenging More challenging About the same Less challenging Much less challenging Unsure N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - recruiting staff	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	Compared to April 2021, how would you describe the current level of workforce challenges in your service or location for Recruiting Staff? (tick ONLY ONE response) by region	Much more challenging More challenging About the same Less challenging Much less challenging Unsure N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - challenges retaining staff	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	Compared to April 2021, how would you describe the current level of workforce challenges in your service or location for Retaining Staff (tick ONLY ONE response) by region	Much more challenging More challenging About the same Less challenging Much less challenging Unsure N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - most useful recruitment help from gov	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	What form of assistance with recruitment or staffing (if any) would you find most useful between now and April 2022 from government? (tick ALL that apply)	Access to travel Speed up the recruitment process National recruitment campaign Role specific recruitment campaign Extension of workforce/IPC grant Better recognition for the sector by government Right to work process improvement Immigration skills charge reduction/removal Add all care workers to skills shortage list Other N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - main challenge agency staff	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	If you are using agency staff, compared to April 2021, what is the main challenge you are facing? (tick ONLY ONE response)	More expensive Having to call multiple agencies More difficult to block book Vaccination uncertainty Don’t know Other N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - challenges booking agency staff	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	If you are using agency staff, compared to April 2021, what challenges are you facing? (tick ALL that apply)	More expensive Having to call multiple agencies More difficult to block book Vaccination uncertainty Don’t know Other N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Frequency of agency staff use	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	If you are using agency staff, compared to April 2021, how frequently are you using them? (tick ONLY ONE response)	More frequently About the same Less frequently Unsure N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - accessing agency staff	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	Compared to April 2021, how would you describe the current level of workforce challenges in your service or location for Accessing Agency Staff, if/when needed. (tick ONLY ONE response)	Much more challenging More challenging About the same Less challenging Much less challenging Unsure N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - main consequence low morale	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	If applicable to you, compared to April 2021, what is the main consequence of a more challenging morale situation? (tick ONLY ONE response)	Staff not able/willing to take on additional hours Staff less energised/aren’t able to do more Staff indicating thinking of leaving Staff not able/willing to take on additional responsibilities Staff wellbeing worries Don’t know Other N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - consequences of low morale	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	If applicable to you, compared to April 2021, what are the consequences of a more challenging morale situation? (tick ALL that apply)	Staff not able/willing to take on additional hours Staff less energised/aren’t able to do more Staff indicating thinking of leaving Staff not able/willing to take on additional responsibilities Staff wellbeing worries Don’t know Other N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - maintaining morale	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	Compared to April 2021, how would you describe the current level of workforce challenges in your service or location for Maintaining Morale? (tick ONLY one response)	Much more challenging More challenging About the same Less challenging Much less challenging Unsure N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - hardest roles to fill	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	Are there specific roles that are harder to fill? If so which roles? (tick ALL that apply)	Registered Nurse Senior Care Worker Support and Outreach Personal Assistant/Home Care Worker Senior Management Registered Manager Social Worker Occupational Therapist Chef/Catering General/Nursing Care Worker Cleaner Maintenance Admin Others N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Quality of applicants for social care roles	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	If you are recruiting, compared to April 2021, how does the quality or suitability of applications compare? (tick ONLY ONE response)	Much Higher Higher About the same Lower Much Lower Don’t Know N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Number of applications for social care roles	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	If you are recruiting, compared to April 2021, how do the number of applications compare? (tick ONLY ONE response)	Much Higher Higher About the same Lower Much Lower Don’t Know N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - current level workforce challenges	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	Compared to April 2021, how would you describe the current level of workforce challenges in your service or location for Recruiting Staff? (tick ONLY ONE response)	Much more challenging More challenging About the same Less challenging Much less challenging Unsure N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - hardest roles to retain	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	Are there specific roles that are harder to retain? If so which roles? (tick ALL that apply)	Registered Nurse Senior Care Worker Support and Outreach Personal Assistant/Home Care Worker Senior Management Registered Manager Social Worker Occupational Therapist Chef/Catering General/Nursing Care Worker Cleaner Maintenance Admin Others N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - main reason staff leave	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	If you have challenges with retaining staff, what do you believe is the main cause for staff leaving? (tick ONLY ONE response)	Better conditions/working hours elsewhere Better pay elsewhere within care sector Better pay elsewhere outside of care sector Better hours/working conditions elsewhere within care sector Better hours/working conditions elsewhere outside of care sector Feeling burnt out/stress Less pressurised role Do not wish to be vaccinated Migration issues/leaving UK Work related health issue Covid related stress/trauma Public perception of care Outside work commitments Cost/Distance of travel to work is too high Don’t know Other N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - reasons staff leave	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	If you have challenges with retaining staff what do you believe are the causes for staff leaving? (tick ALL that apply)	Better conditions/working hours elsewhere Better pay elsewhere within care sector Better pay elsewhere outside of care sector Better hours/working conditions elsewhere within care sector Better hours/working conditions elsewhere outside of care sector Feeling burnt out/stress Less pressurised role Do not wish to be vaccinated Migration issues/leaving UK Work related health issue Covid related stress/trauma Public perception of care Outside work commitments Cost/Distance of travel to work is too high Don’t know Other N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS
Provision;	Provider views - workforce challenges	2021	16-120	16	120	Provider manager	No	Current	ASCWS Dec 2021	No	Compared to April 2021, how would you describe the current level of workforce challenges in your service or location for Retaining Staff?	Much more challenging More challenging About the same Less challenging Much less challenging Unsure N/A (or left blank)	ASCWS

Aims

The Workforce Survey was a voluntary survey completed by CQC-registered care homes and domiciliary care providers via the Capacity Tracker. It ran for a month from 13th September to 14th October, 2021, and aimed to gain insight into the scale of workforce challenges and specific areas of concern.

Institution

Department of Health and Social Care

Geographic coverage - Nations

England; National;

Start date

2021

Minimum age at recruitment

Sample Size

8,941

Sample

Study design

Data return

Sample details

In total, 8,941 settings responded to the survey, of which 4,051 were care homes and 4,440 were domiciliary care providers. This represents a response rate of 27% of all CQC-registered care homes and 44% of all CQC-registered domiciliary care providers.

Sex

All

Sample Characteristics

Occupational cohort

Sample size at most recent sweep

8941

Data Access

DHSC website

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/adult-social-care-workforce-survey-december-2021

Complementary Data

Genetic Data Collected

Linked Data

HDR UK Innovation Gateway

Website