Why Investing in Your Staff Works – Especially in Health & Social Care
🧠 1. Burnout is one of the biggest threats to care quality
🔹 76% of social workers report feeling emotionally exhausted.
— [Community Care, 2023]
Care professionals are at high risk of burnout, which leads to higher sick leave, lower performance, and increased errors. Supporting staff wellbeing reduces stress and helps them remain calm and competent under pressure.
🔁 2. High turnover disrupts children’s trust and safety
🔹 The average turnover rate in children’s social care is 16.6% per year.
— [Department for Education, 2022]
Constant staff changes undermine stability for vulnerable children. By investing in staff wellbeing, you reduce burnout-related exits, improving continuity of care and helping young people form safer, longer-lasting attachments.
📉 3. Absenteeism costs the care sector millions
🔹 Staff in the care sector take an average of 8.2 sick days per year — many related to stress and mental health.
— [Skills for Care, 2023]
Stress-related absences are preventable. A proactive approach to wellbeing reduces sick leave and improves staff availability — keeping rotas full, teams consistent, and costs down.
🫂 4. Emotionally supported staff create safer environments
When staff have space to process trauma and manage emotional fatigue, they respond to challenging behaviours with more empathy, patience, and calm. This directly reduces incidents, restraints, and breakdowns in communication with children in crisis.
📊 5. Wellbeing improves inspection outcomes
🔹 Leadership and staff wellbeing are key factors in Ofsted and CQC inspection outcomes.
— [Ofsted Framework, 2023]
Organisations that prioritise staff wellbeing demonstrate good leadership, a safe culture, and effective management. Inspectors are increasingly looking at whether providers take care of their teams — not just their service users.
💷 6. £1 invested = up to £5 returned
🔹 A Deloitte report found that for every £1 spent on staff mental health support, employers saw an average of £5 return through reduced turnover, absenteeism, and increased productivity.
— [Deloitte, 2022]
While not care-sector specific, this stat shows the proven ROI of wellbeing investment. And given the high-pressure nature of care work, the returns are likely even more impactful.
🔒 7. The safer staff feel, the safer children feel
Children in care often mirror the emotional state of the adults around them. When staff feel supported, emotionally grounded, and healthy, they pass on that regulation and safety to the young people they care for — creating a more therapeutic environment for healing and growth.
