A specialist dementia care home in Newport has reported an entire year without any staff leaving, a rare achievement in a sector beset by recruitment and retention problems.
Local success amid wider workforce pressures
Aria Care Home recorded zero per cent staff turnover in the year ending August 2026, having reduced annual turnover from 2% in 2023 to nil this year. The result stands in sharp contrast to the average private care home turnover rate of 25% cited by the Care Quality Commission for the wider sector.
Managers say the milestone is the product of several years of concerted work on pay, training and staff support. The company pays a minimum of £16.20 per hour to all employees regardless of age or role, with an average hourly rate of £17.11. That pay scale translates to roughly £7,250 more per year on a 40-hour week than the legal minimum for equivalent roles elsewhere, the provider says.
“Our team at Aria continues to achieve milestones that are rarely seen and it is a privilege to work alongside a workforce who have ripped up the narrative about working in social care,” said Managing Director Ali George.
Mr George added that the achievement covered the past 12 months and built on "three and a half years" of work towards improving retention, and that residents and their families had been among the chief beneficiaries.
What this means for Newport and the sector
For Newport families who rely on local dementia care, the stability of staffing can bring more consistent relationships between carers and residents — a factor particularly important in dementia settings where continuity and familiarity matter for wellbeing. Staff retention also reduces the disruption and additional costs associated with recruitment and agency use.
Yet the Aria figure remains an outlier. Recent industry research referenced by the provider, carried out by Bluebird Care, suggested fewer than one in three people would consider a career in social care. Separate material for Wales indicates around 26% of care workers say they are likely to leave the sector within the next 12 months, underlining the scale of the challenge.
- Aria Care Home: 0% turnover (year ending August 2026)
- Care sector average (CQC): 25% turnover
- Aria minimum pay: £16.20/hr; average pay: £17.11/hr
| Measure | Aria Care Home | Sector / Wales |
|---|---|---|
| Staff turnover (annual) | 0% | 25% (CQC) |
| Minimum hourly pay | £16.20 | Varies; below Aria |
| Staff likely to leave (Wales) | — | 26% |
Policy and practice questions
The success at Aria will prompt questions for other providers and for policymakers in Wales about the levers that most effectively improve retention: is it pay, working conditions, career development, leadership or a combination of measures? While the provider points to pay as a central factor, the company also highlights an ongoing multi-year effort to embed supportive practices.
For Newport's public services and commissioners, a locally anchored employer that can retain staff may help reduce pressure on social care budgets by lowering recruitment and agency costs. It may also offer a model for partnerships with health services seeking greater stability in community and residential care.
At a time when many care providers say they struggle to recruit, the local milestone provides a tangible example that improving terms and conditions — alongside other workplace measures — can have measurable effects. Whether that example can be scaled across the sector, however, will depend on funding, workforce planning and policy choices at Welsh and UK level.
The Aria result is a rare piece of good news for Newport's social care community and one that families and staff in the city will judge by how it translates into continuing quality of care for residents living with dementia.
