Almost half of home care leaders surveyed rate workforce shortages as the single biggest challenge facing the sector in 2023, according to an industry report from Enkindle Consulting.
In fact, the challenges related to workforce is the common issue reflected throughout the findings of Enkindle’s March 2023 survey of 380 home care leaders about their readiness for reform and views on the key challenges and strategic priorities for the year.
“Nationwide workforce shortages, poor wages, reform changes, the stigma of aged care, Covid-19, and emergency weather events are all leading to burnout, strain and turnover. It’s a never-ending cycle,” one survey respondent said.
The greatest challenges for the home care sector identified after workforce shortages (49 per cent) are financial viability (21 per cent), resourcing to implement reform (10 per cent) and regulation and compliance (8 per cent), according to leaders surveyed for Home Care Outlook Report 2023.
The 16-page report aims to give the 2,000-plus home care and home support providers a voice on matters related to reform and sustainability. It comes in response to the expected key focus over the next 18 months on the new and consolidated in-home care program due to start in July 2024.
Drilling down into workforce issues, respondents predict the most significant challenge for the home care industry in 2023 is finding skilled workers to fill shifts (54 per cent) followed by staff fatigue and unplanned leave (17 per cent) and increased staff turnover (12 per cent).
One respondent highlighted that aged care was competing with higher-paying sectors for staff. “We see the exodus of aged care workers moving to other industries that pay much better. We cannot compete with wages paid by the mines to drive coal trucks or even the NDIS. Staff (including me) are exhausted. Just bloody exhausted,” they wrote.
Priorities and preparedness
Elsewhere, the survey found that over a third of the home care leaders have future thinking and strategic planning as their top priority in 2023 (37 per cent) while one in seven is focused on improving client experience and brand awareness (14 per cent).
But when it comes to how ready they are for the new in-home care program starting next year – like previous surveys and discussions – many in the sector are hungry for information. One respondent wrote: “We are all stuck in limbo while we await clarification on our future funding and program model. It has created a great deal of uncertainty.”
Almost a third of respondents are waiting for more details before they start preparing (31 per cent) while almost one in 10 is unaware of what they should be working on to prepare for the new program.
Information technology is also an issue for most of those surveyed. More than half of respondent say their home care platform or software fails to meet their needs (54 per cent) and 8 per cent have no platform at all. However, more than half of respondents have plans to replace their inadequate platform (44 per cent) or implement their first (5 per cent).
The findings of the survey show that home care providers know they have a lot of work ahead of them, said Enkindle Consulting founding partner Jennene Buckley.
“They are keen to transform their business models to be successful in the new in-home care program and are preparing as best they can. But they are eagerly waiting for the details of the new home care program design, to be able to launch their transformation plans. The clock is ticking and 1 July 2024 is not far away,” Ms Buckley told Community Care Review.
The report also highlights the importance on non-reform items of workforce and technology, she said.
“Workforce strategies and digital transformation are called out as two key risks and strategic imperatives for home care providers that are outside of the reform and need to be on the agenda of every home care providers’ boards of governance to ensure resourcing is considered to address these two matters.”
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