April 2013
CARE SECTOR SKILLS GAP AND TRAINING
NEEDS SURVEY
THE SCOPE OF THE SURVEY WAS TO:
Identify the skill gaps which exist within the
sector,
 Establish the types of education and training
provision that employers currently access,
 Consider how political, economical, legislative,
social, technological and environmental factors
may influence the skill set that will be required
by employees delivering care services in the
future.

Organisations and
groups providing
health and social care
Housing
HSSD
Residential and
retirement homes
Private nursing
homes
MSG
Dental
practices
Physiotherapy
Pharmacies
Chiropodists and
podiatrists
Charities
GP
practices
Hospice
Nursing
agencies
Voluntary
services
Informal
carers
Aesthetic
clinics
Nurseries/preschool
Complementary
medicine
Psychologists and
counsellors
SJA
Audiology
Opticians
Osteopaths
Key
Private sector
Charity/voluntar
y
States funded
Non HSSD
social
services
Chiropractors
METHODOLOGY
Cluster sampling – 72 employers
 Questionnaire – survey monkey
 Semi-structured interviews x 3
 Quantitative data collated using survey monkey.
 Qualitative data – identified themes

RESPONSE RATE
 19
out of 72 responded
 26% response rate
 BUT good representation of the Care
Sector included in the final sample
Box one: Categories listed under other;
Charity
Health Protection/Environmental Health
Delivery of contraception and counselling
Midwifery, paediatrics & neonates
Pathology
Occupational Therapy
Addictions and social care
Child protection
Education and Training
Dementia Specialist
SIZE OF ORGANISATION
7 organisations employed between 6 and 25
people,
 6 employed between 26 and 50 people
 5 employed between 51 and 100 people
 1 employed in excess of 100 staff.

MORE ABOUT THE RESPONDENTS…
9 of the respondents stated that they employed staff seeking to
change career direction,
3 indicated that they have recruited people who previously worked
in more office- based/finance sector positions.
The age profile of the workforce employed by the respondents
appears to be evenly spread between the ages of 19 and 65,
9 indicated that they employed people beyond 66 years.
Box two: Categories listed under other;
Chefs
Chartered EHOs/Public Health Specialists
Housekeepers
Clinical physiologist
Maintenance
Registered Midwives & Neo natal nurses
Handy men
Biomedical Scientists
Trainers
Activities Co-ordinators
TRAINING NEEDS ANALYSIS
18 respondents stated that they supported
their staff to gain the requisite qualifications for
their role
 17 employers undertake a formal process to
identify the training needs of the staff.
 9 of these 17 respondents stated that their
training needs analysis process was linked to
their staff appraisal system.

MORE ABOUT TRAINING NEEDS
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9 of the respondents felt that the education and training
provision on the Island was good and met their needs.
3 accessed specialist courses off-island,
Respondents identified the following training needs that
couldn't currently be met through local provision:
Seating and postural management
Contraceptive &sexual health
Simulation training for specialist areas
Dementia and elderly care
Post-graduate courses
Safeguarding
RECRUITMENT
17 of the respondents employed people from
outside the Bailiwick
 13 stated that the main reason for doing so
was due to the inability to find people with the
right skills.
 7 stated that they could not always find enough
people locally to deliver the services they
provide.

Box three: Categories listed
under other
Home/deputy managers
Health Visitors
Chartered EHOs
Clinical physiologists
Midwives & Neo natal nurses
Biomedical scientists
Medical Consultants
Lecturer
REGULATORY/LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS
IMPACTING ON SKILLS AND TRAINING
REQUIREMENTS

11 of the respondents identified a number of regulatory or legislative
requirements that currently influence the skills required by the workforce,
these included the following:

Registered health and social care professionals are regulated by UK bodies
such as NMC, HCPC, GMC, IBMS

Some roles require specific specialist qualifications

There are standardised requirements for the skill mix in nursing homes.

3 felt that there would be changes in these requirements, including the
introduction of the ‘revalidation’ of doctors and the inclusion of support
workers within the regulatory frameworks.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS IMPACTING ON
SKILLS AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
3 respondents identified financial issues as a
potential future problem both in terms of their
own budget and the cost of living in Guernsey.
 1 mentioned that the drive to a more
community based model of provision required
targeted resources to support this initiative.
 1 individual highlighted the issuing of housing
licences as being a problem in terms of
recruitment.

TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS IMPACTING ON
SKILLS AND TRAINING REQUIREMENTS
Changes in equipment ie wheelchairs and other
medical devices.
 Changes in therapies in line with the expanding
evidence base.
 The need for everyone to be IT literate
 Development of the e-environment for
education and training

SERVICE DEVELOPMENT IS INHIBITED BY
The local workforce lacking certain skills (n=4)
 The local workforce do not have the right type
of skills (n=8)
 There is insufficient education and training
available locally (n=6)

POSSIBLE SERVICE DEVELOPMENTS IF STAFF
APPROPRIATELY SKILLED
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Generally improve the quality of service provision
Reduce risk
Expand service provision, by being open for longer hours and
providing an out-reach service
Employ a health advisor
Reduce the number of agency and locum staff
Improve staff retention
Develop career pathways
Reduce the problems associated with short-term licences
Offer a career structure from Band 2 through to Band 7 and
develop a local, sustainable workforce.
THEMES FROM INTERVIEWS
Meeting
training needs – an
eclectic approach
A dynamic context
Future Care skills
HIGHLIGHTS FROM INTERVIEWS
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A lot of training and educational resources locally ‘if you
know where to find them’
People with long-term conditions are showing symptoms of
old age and not just those related to their original condition.
No longer recruiting the single female, recruits have families
which need relocating
Education and training is a powerful recruitment and
retention tool
Important to employ people with the right attributes –
empathy and compassion
Although some services need people with wide range of
skills and possible dual qualifications, this breadth of skill
set no longer exists in one recruit.
Ensure learning impacts on practice
KEY FINDINGS SKILLS GAPS
They do exist in the Care Sector but a more
detailed analysis is needed to establish exactly
where
 Could use TNA process to inform strategic work
and future education provision
 HSSD has been using the TNA process for >10
years and could be a template for the Care
sector as a whole

ACCESS TO TRAINING
Eclectic mix of provision, including local and UK
providers as well as in-house initiatives.
 No standard approach to identifying an
education and training budget.

FACTORS IMPACTING ON FUTURE SKILL SET
Care sector operates in a context of rapid
change, especially technical developments and
the expanding evidence base.
 Socio-political issues such as funding and the
ageing population will also have impact on
future services and the skills needed
 On-going challenge of recruiting and retaining
people with the right attributes and skills

CONCLUSIONS
Care sector is large and heterogenous
 Employees are diverse
 Concerns that staff do not always have skills to
deliver the service
 Lack of consistent approach to identifying
training needs and budgeting for them.
 Future challenges which will impact on the
skills needed in the future

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. To encourage employers within the care sector
to use a TNA process and to share this data with
Skills Guernsey and local educational providers.
 2. To develop a formula to help employers to
identify the financial resources which should be
allocated for education and training within their
organisation.
 3. Evaluate the impact of education and training
on service delivery
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