Find carers and nurses in Hertfordshire

Recruiting in Hertfordshire

Hiring carers in a county that shares a border with London

Employers in Hertfordshire compete for staff with London as well as with each other. The county council's workforce strategy names proximity to London and its higher paid jobs, alongside the county's high housing costs, as reasons homecare providers find it hard to attract people from outside. In practice the best recruits are often people who already live locally and would rather not commute.

The towns are spread across the county rather than clustered, so a carer in Hitchin and a round in Watford are a long way apart even though both are in Hertfordshire. Rural rounds add another layer, because they depend on staff who drive.

Nursing homes feel the squeeze as well, because West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals and East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust recruit nurses and healthcare assistants from Watford to Stevenage. The same strategy noted that older people in the county are less likely to live close to family and are often cared for by older unpaid carers, which adds to demand for paid help at home. Looking first at carers who already live near a round, a Hitchin carer for a Hitchin round, is usually the way through.

83% of the inspected care employers in Hertfordshire are rated Good or Outstanding by the CQC, close to the 82% across the East and in line with England as a whole (85%).