Shared Lives workforce grows again across the UK

• Shared Lives continues to offer the highest quality form of social care. The latest CQC reports show that 96% of Shared Lives services in England were rated as good or outstanding, the same as last year, compared to 83% across the wider social care system.
• Shared Lives carer numbers have increased for the second year in a row, increasing by 2% to 10,081 and by 8% since 2022. This welcome news indicates that recruitment and retention efforts across the sector have been successful over the last two years.
• Non-carer staff member numbers also rose to 961.  This is a 3% rise from the 954 reported the year prior, and a significant 33% increase since 2021. This positive change suggests a growing willingness to invest in Shared Lives from local leaders.
• The number of people supported in the sector saw a modest decrease of 2% to 9,802. This is the second consecutive annual decrease in this figure and 6% fewer than the 10,394 reported two years ago.
• We would expect a lag between growth in workforce and the number of matches, because of the nature of the Shared Lives model and the careful matching process. But the decrease does highlight the importance of appropriate and pro-active referrals into Shared Lives services
• The decrease must also be viewed in the context of the wider challenges within social care. Financial pressures have caused increasingly complex or inappropriate referrals into Shared Lives, meaning carers can support fewer people and leaving some without matches altogether.
•  Social care in general requires significant investment and long-term planning so that people can get the support they need to live the good lives they deserve.

Despite the small decrease of supported people, the Shared Lives sector remains resilient amidst a turbulent and challenging context for social care. The growth in workforce particularly shows real intent to develop the model from both local and central government.

We expect this drive will continue as the unprecedented investment into Shared Lives provided by the Accelerating Reform Fund (ARF) begins to take effect over the coming years.