Local authorities in the UK are turning to interim managers to help them overcome acute staff shortages in social care.

Figures from the Training Organisation for Personal Social Services (TOPSS) revealed that local authority shortages were so extreme last year that the equivalent of one in nine posts went unfilled.

To make matters worse, the delay between trainees beginning courses and qualifying means that managers often have to take on case work.

By managing case loads and organising teams in the short-term, interim managers give local authorities breathing space to find a permanent member of staff, according to Richard Smith, director of health and social care at public sector recruiter Beresford Blake Thomas (BBT).

“There is a shortage across the board and there are senior people from both the public and private sectors that specialise in short-term projects,” said Smith. Some interims have been sourced from as far afield as Australia.

BBT has seen such growth in requests for this type of placement that it plans to extend its interim division – known as Gateway – beyond social care into the field of interim health professionals and nursing managers.

Ruth Ellis, a consultant at BBT’s Gateway division, commented: “The application of an interim manager can have a tangible and quite immediate effect, particularly on some of the issues currently faced by local authorities.”