Health and Care Staff: Life in the Cost-of-Living Crisis (Stage 1 report)

The local health and care systems in BOB and Frimley have a concern that high living costs are making the recruitment and retention of staff difficult. Current cost of living issues are compounding a long-term problem of an overheating housing market and lack of affordable housing.

To inform a wider study of local health and care staff pathways, this report provides a quantitative assessment of housing and living costs, including how these are affected by commuting patterns and the cost of transport.

The analysis uses small area datasets drawn from national statistics and other robust sources to illustrate housing and living costs for health and care workers across the ICP areas of Frimley, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB). Wherever feasible, data is provided also for comparator areas in the London Higher Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) zone and lower cost markets in northern England.