Mar 26 - Sacramento Says That Care Agency Staff Turnover “Higher Under GSD”
The Government has said that the GSD are once again attempting to distort facts and mislead by taking statistics provided to parliament last week out of context.
A statement from Number 6 continues: “First and foremost it is significant to note that the latest tirade by Isobel Ellul-Hammond is in relation to an answer to a written question. The Opposition have the option to ask oral or written questions in Parliament, when questions are asked orally there is an opportunity to ask further supplementary questions if clarification is required, however on this occasion, the Opposition have jumped the gun and irresponsibly jumped to the wrong conclusion thereby misleading the public.
“The statistics provided in parliament show that 74 people have resigned from their employment in the whole of the Care Agency since December 2011. The Agency’s complement of staff is 610 therefore this figure represents 12% during a 21⁄2 year period and not 25% as the Opposition have recklessly represented. In their campaign to scaremonger about Social Services, the Opposition have forgotten to consider the statistics when they were in office which shows that the turnover of staff was higher. Terminations for years 2010 and 2011 are as follows:
2010 – 72 (complement of 507 = 14%) 2011- 81 (complement of 509 = 16%) Compared to now 2012 - 23 (complement of 588 = 4%)
2013 – 35 (complement of 610 = 6%)
“The statistics show that the turnover of staff is actually substantially lower now than under the GSD.
“In particular the Opposition alludes to the concern of a high turnover of staff in the Children and Families Team in Social Services and again statistics show that the turnover in this section was also higher while they were in office, because whereas there have been 15 resignations in 2 1⁄2 years during this Government’s term of office, (which includes 2 resignations but who continue to work on supply, so in effect the turnover is 13) the figure was higher during a shorter period under the GSD because 15 resigned in 2010 and 6 in 2011 thereby making it 21 in a 2 year period.
“People resign from their jobs for a variety of reasons. In the case of care workers, this is a demanding frontline job and traditionally the turnover in this sector is high, and this is not unique to Gibraltar. We acknowledge the high turnover and the importance of the need for continuity and as such, and as a part of the review of the service we have introduced measures to attempt to retain staff.
“Since July 2013 we have undertaken recruitment workshops so that prospective applicants are fully aware of the demands of the job before they apply. This administration has introduced a dedicated training team to ensure that relevant training is delivered to the teams. Furthermore, Human Resources have introduced exit interviews were employees are able to express any sentiments they may wish and these are followed up by way of continuous improvement of the service.
“One of the major consequences of the GSD’s failures in Social Services is the lack of forward planning and this has contributed to the retention problem. Historically social workers have been difficult to recruit locally and recruiting from the UK results in some people not wanting to remain in Gibraltar in the long term. We have now introduced a training structure for graduates to ensure that we do not perpetuate the problem in future.
Commenting on the matter Minister for Social Services, Samantha Sacramento stated: “It’s a shame that Isobel Ellul-Hammond did not show such concern over social services when the GSD were in Government, as statistics show that the turnover of staff was higher than it is now. The Opposition cannot seriously expect people to believe that things in Social Services are as bad now as they try to make them out to be. The reality is that Social Services was at breaking point when we took office and morale was very low. We are still in the process of fixing what GSD did not do in 16 years of Government and for this to be done properly it cannot be done overnight. The service that we deliver in this department is of paramount importance and we are taking the review of the service very seriously and are working very closely with unions in so doing to make sure that we get it right because we owe it to our staff and to the people who are the beneficiaries of this service.”
