Who cares? Amplifying the voices of paid carers in Wakefield District
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Healthwatch Wakefield wanted to look at the experiences of care staff working in the care sector via a survey and interviews. They heard from 71 people.
The participants worked in domiciliary care, residential care, nursing homes, supported living, and as personal assistants. The findings describe a workforce that is proud, experienced, and deeply committed to providing high-quality care, despite increasing pressures.
The findings challenge some common assumptions about the care workforce. Rather than a transient workforce, many participants had built long-term careers in care, developing significant expertise and trusted relationships with the people they support. However, they also described feeling overlooked, undervalued, and too often excluded from conversations that directly affect the people they care for.
At a time when demand for care continues to grow and workforce pressures remain significant, these findings represent an opportunity as much as a challenge. Better recognising paid carers as skilled professionals and integrating their insight into neighbourhood and multidisciplinary working has the potential to improve communication, personalise care, reduce avoidable deterioration, and strengthen outcomes for people receiving support.
The message from this research is clear: paid carers do not simply want greater recognition; they want to be enabled to provide the best possible care. This report recommends that commissioners, providers, and system partners: •
- Co-produce service improvements with the paid care workforce.
- Strengthen communication across health and social care.
- Commission care in ways that support person-centred relationships.
- Invest in workforce wellbeing, development, and retention.
- Recognise paid care as a skilled profession.
- Improve opportunities for integrated working across neighbourhood teams.
- Share and spread effective practice across the system.
- Continue listening to the workforce to shape future improvement