OSOonagh Smyth — no licensed photograph is available, so the sector leader plate is shown instead.
Sector leader
Oonagh Smyth
Chief executive of Skills for Care
Press citations
6
Topics
2
Adult social care & reform
Last quoted
Sept 2026
Sector leader
Chief executive of Skills for Care
Press citations
6
Topics
2
Adult social care & reform
Last quoted
Sept 2026
“International recruits are a welcome and much-needed addition to our workforce, and it is important that we treat them with the respect and gratitude they deserve. But this type of recruitment is vulnerable to recent immigration policy changes, the effects of which it is still too early to understand.”
“It was "encouraging" the vacancy rate has fallen. "But we can't afford to be complacent as some of this will be down to the fall in vacancies in the wider economy, which we know always benefits our sector. We need to protect ourselves from the wild swings in vacancy rates driven by the wider economic picture."”
chief executive of Skills for Care · Adult social care & reform · 8 Sept 2026 · In numbers: Social care will need 470,000 extra staff by 2040 ↗
“"We know what we need to do to tackle the challenges facing the adult social care sector and workforce"”
Chief executive of Skills for Care · NHS & care workforce/staffing · 8 Sept 2026 · Social care nurse vacancy rates fall but reliance on overseas ↗
“We are delighted to have been selected to deliver these two significant programmes of work, which will support the 1.5 million+ people working across adult social care in England. This investment recognises the essential role of the adult social care workforce and enables us to continue working with the sector to build the skills, confidence and capacity needed for the future.”
chief executive of Skills for Care · Adult social care & reform · 8 Sept 2026 · Skills for Care awarded two major DHSC contracts ↗
“The 1.5 million adult social care workers deserve rewards that support recruitment and career progression. The Fair Pay Agreement is a crucial step toward improving care roles and securing skilled staffing.”
CEO, Skills for Care · Adult social care & reform · 8 Sept 2026 · First-ever adult social care fair pay agreement announced ↗
“This planned fair pay agreement is a "significant step forward" for those that are "lowest paid in our economy". It's important the improvements in pay are part of a wider response to stabilising the workforce and supporting the sector to meet increasing needs.”
Chief executive of Skills for Care · Adult social care & reform · 8 Sept 2026 · £500m social care fair pay agreement branded a ‘bear trap’ ↗
Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.
Chief executives, directors and spokespeople of trade bodies, representative associations and charities speaking for the sector. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. This profile was last updated on 8 Sept 2026. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.