Capita and Curam partner to improve access to care staff

Capita has partnered with home care staff marketplace Curam with the aim of improving access to affordable social care for local authorities and integrated care systems.

The partnership, which launched on 15 July 2024, is intended to support the implementation of the Curam platform in local government, enabling local authorities to access to CQC-regulated, vetted and experienced carers.

There are around 152,000 unfilled care positions in England, with skilled care professionals in short supply, Curam said in a press release.

Using the Curam platform is intended to reduce recruitment overheads so that local authority customers pay less for care and care professionals get paid more.

Ben Weatherall, co-founder and director at Curam, said: “The UK’s ageing population is accelerating demand for care professionals, but there is also a critical shortage of skilled workers in the sector, putting real pressure on social care departments in local government.

“We are proud to be working with Capita to expand local authorities’ awareness of and access to our network of highly trained, vetted care professionals who are fairly paid and given progression opportunities to improve retention.

“Not only will this result in better and readily accessible care for constituents, but also cost savings for councils to reinvest into social care provisions”.

Marianne Betts, managing director – education, health and social care at Capita, said: “Capita collaborates with creative partners to develop solutions, powered by digital technology and human expertise, that benefit customers and communities.

“In the realm of social care, our focus is on empowering individuals who draw on care and support.

“The Curam platform aligns seamlessly with our vision for social care, offering choice and control to users, ensuring they benefit through support from genuinely experienced, properly trained and well paid carers”.

Curam technology for sourcing and hiring staff is used by more than 100 local authorities.

It also offers its care professionals training opportunities which help make caring a viable long-term career and opens up more earning potential. Carers can set their own pay rate to give them more control over their job.

In February 2024, Curam announced a partnership with Doctify to use patient-verified reviews as part of the carer selection process.

Meanwhile, West Northamptonshire Council announced in July 2024 that it has signed a five-year contract with social care specialist System C to implement its cloud-based case management app for adult social care in the region.

In May 2024, the Department of Health and Social Care published a tender to secure a partner organisation to deliver projects to support the digital skills development of the adult social care workforce.