Recruitment and retention of the health and social care digital workforce: A rapid review

Abstract

The recruitment and retention of a digital health and social care workforce in the United Kingdom (UK) is challenging for several reasons that include the shortages of these employees in the National Health Service (NHS) and social care and the high demand for digital skills from other sectors (HEE, 2021a; NHS Providers, 2017). Brown (2022:7) notes that ‘high staff turnover rates, chronic recruitment and retention issues, and low morale are increasingly identified as major challenges for those working in social care’. Liu et al., (2019:5) in their report ‘NHS Informatics workforce in England: Phase 1 Project Report’ estimated that the size of the NHS informatics workforce in 2019 was between 40,640 Full Time Equivalents (FTEs) to 53,936 FTEs based on electronic staff records. However, significant shortages in digital and information technology staff in health and social care were identified that pose a challenge. This rapid review examines the strategies used to recruit and retain the health and social care digital workforce and potential solutions to issues raised.