Predicting turnover rates among the staff of English and Welsh old people's homes.

Staff turnover and wastage are particularly damaging in the personal social services where the establishment of staff-client relationships and a fund of experience are so important for 'successful' service or care. The vulnerability and dependence of the frail elderly in old people's homes make staff turnover and wastage especially problematic. The implications of staff turnover are briefly reviewed in this paper, and used as a basis for a study of the extent of staff turnover in the residential care sector. Using data on the personal characteristics of 8588 staff employed in old people's homes in England and Wales during 1976-1977, we estimated the individual propensities to change jobs and to leave social work-related employment altogether. These propensities were found to be significantly associated with age, sex, length of service, basic education and professional qualifications.