Local market intelligence

About Bradford District & Craven’s Health and Social Care Workforce

By supporting the development of the health & social care sector we will be contributing to inclusive economic growth and the development of a diverse and skilled workforce which offers opportunity for the economically inactive but also attracts the best talent to work in the Bradford District. When we do this, the quality of services, and the outcomes experienced by those that use them, will also be improved.

Economic Impact of Health and Social Care

The health and social care economy contributes 10.5% to Bradford District’s total economic worth but has the potential to contribute significantly more.

Health and Social Care is Bradford’s second largest sector with 33,000 employees across 915 enterprises companies generating £1,008 million in GVA. The sector has seen significant employment growth in recent years which has seen employees increase by 2,000 since 2015.
Large public hospital trusts account for a third of all employment with 12,000 employees. Other key activities include social work activities employing 9,500 people and residential care which employs 5,000 people. Medical practices employ 2,000 people and dental practices employ 600 people.
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the biggest single employer with 5,877 employees across 6 sites including Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Lukes Hospital.
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust with 2,964 employees and Bradford District Care Trust 2,922 employees are other key organisations. Key private sector providers include
The health and social care economy employs 16.6% of Bradford District’s total workforce.
An additional 4,700 jobs are needed by 2030 to meet demographic demand and with our district not as economically active as it could be, this provides great opportunity to meet those vacancies
Current workforce has an average age of over 41
– we are actively addressing routes in to the workforce for our younger population through placements and apprenticeships and graduate support programmes.
Though over 86% of the current workforce is white, we have many programmes in place to improve our diversity at all levels, with a current focus on leadership roles (see our equality and diversity page for examples of this).
Only 50% of the workforce hold a relevant level 2 qualification or above.
Workforce turnover runs at 20% or above and the vacancy rate is 7% or above – we continue to strengthen our workforce support locally such as through health and wellbeing programmes and progression opportunities.
The Bradford District female inactivity rate is high at 37% compared to 28% nationally meaning we have a lot of untapped potential – there are many roles in health and social care only requiring basic skills or that would benefit from a range of transferrable skills people acquire through volunteering and home life.

More information on social care statistics can be found through Skills for Care here

Our health and social care workforce in numbers

(January 2021)

Why Get Involved in One Workforce Hub

This project is important to you because…

If you aren’t already working in the H&SC sector, we hope some of the stories, experiences and general information on this site will inspire you to share your talents with us in Bradford District and Craven. If you are already involved with the sector, we hope this site will support you in developing your skills, knowledge and capabilities, and widen your horizons of opportunity beyond just the organisation you currently work for. The Centre for Workforce Development is here for you, to encourage, support and guide you through a positive working experience in health and social care, but in Bradford District and Craven in particular.

It will bring health and social care organisations together, supported by our further and higher education establishments, to manage and deliver workforce development opportunities locally. We can also maximise the potential of national and regional level opportunities to benefit our local place.

What Is the One Workforce Hub

The Centre for Workforce Development is in development, though we are already working towards some of our shared ambitions.

We are creating a new health and social care Centre for Workforce Development for Bradford District and Craven. We want to support and develop our workforce collectively so that everyone on their journey into or already within the sector benefits from every opportunity.

We therefore want to create a culture of working across organisations as a default, unless there is a good reason not to. We would like all workforce development activity to be commissioned, managed and delivered by Bradford District and Craven as a place, rather than as a range of individual organisations.

Further content to draw from: (language not currently appropriate)

The time has never been more right for us to consider radical workforce redesign. Workforce is becoming the biggest issue facing the NHS and social care in the next decade made even more apparent through the Covid19 pandemic. Nationally there are an estimated 10,000 vacancies in medical posts and 40,000 vacancies in nursing posts and 122,000 more social care staff are required. In Bradford District & Craven, 4,700 additional roles will be required by 2030.

Our ambitions for the Centre will be achieved through strategic workforce planning and redesign, preparing for new models of care, new roles, whilst maximising the use of technology. We will grow our future H&SC workforce (including volunteers and unpaid carers), improve leadership culture, develop our current and future workforce to have 21^st century skills and make our H&SC organisations the best places to work.”