Right now, our care providers are working under extreme pressure, and we need to do what we can to help.

Recent reports from the Financial Times highlight a critical issue when it comes care homes and their capacity. In 2025, the UK saw additional beds in care homes falling short of meeting even one-third of what's needed, despite 381 new care homes from the previous year, each bustling with an average of 39 residents. Combine this with significant staffing shortages means care providers are facing the challenge of balancing high-quality care and operational efficiency.

For care home employers, these numbers are more than just stats. These issues are affecting daily operations, the well-being of residents, and staff morale. But there is a silver lining, there are a few proactive strategies care providers can take to help overcome these challenges and deliver the best available care to those who need it.

Take a Flexible and Strategic Staffing Approach

Continuity, and reliability of care staff is a common bug bare for care providers, with many care homes facing a high turnover in their teams due to overworking, burnout and low overall moral.

By embracing flexible staffing solutions with Nurseplus, providers will find managing capacity challenges simple, stress free and will enjoy the support of a dedicated local branch team.

Working with Nurseplus means you’ll have access to:

Local agency staff: Our teams can help you quickly bridge gaps during peak periods and cover unplanned absences.

Trained and experienced teams: Our staff are trained to cover multiple roles without compromising care quality.

Retention-focused initiatives: We can help with retention, supporting your permanent staff so they feel less pressure, are not overworked and are supported in their roles by experienced hands.

Working with a trusted recruitment agency like Nurseplus connects care providers with trained, reliable, and fully supported staff at short notice, significantly reducing operational stress and ensuring high-quality resident care.

Plan for the Inevitable Growth and Peak Demand

Looking towards the future might seem optional, but with the way things are going, strategic workforce planning is essential. As a care provider, you need to think about these crucial steps:

Setting out and sharing your seasonal or demographic peaks in demand will help us help you to better prepare for fluctuations in staffing needs.

Let us know the skills, personalities and work schedules that suit your service and we’ll build you a pool of trained staff in advance to ensure readiness.

If there are specialist areas of care provision where you are struggling and we’ll work on upskilling our staff, preparing to support care the challenges you are facing.

By talking these steps through we us we can not only help you manage any immediate pressures but also begin to prepare for sustainable growth and strength against the future.

Why Does This Matter Now?

Not nearly enough beds were made available to those in need over that last year, and ongoing staffing shortages continue to pose problems, we want to help our care partners adapt quickly.

Maintaining care quality has never been more critical and care providers who are taking advantage of the flexible staffing solutions we offer are finding themselves in a better position to stand against current pressures and plan confidently for brighter futures.

With Nurseplus, you’ll find specialist support from your local branch team, with rapid access to skilled, compliant staff, help to bridge gaps and ensure continuity of care.

If you are ready to discover more about how we Nurseplus become a life-line for your service visit our Client Services page, or enquire with your local branch today.

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