Spent the day filming in the north of England for a piece about care. Labour shortage in the sector getting worse. One large provider we spoke to has over 500 vacancies of 5000 staff. One local authority tried 21 agencies to find an elderly woman care at home: no-one available.
One care home for people with learning disabilities we visited told us they’re relisting vacancy after vacancy after receiving *zero* applications. They’re getting through by asking existing staff to work extra hours, forgo holiday etc but it’s not sustainable.
Not least because there comes a point when it’s not safe. This is a workforce already suffering burnout and exhaustion. We’ve spoken to families who are being refused care and smaller care homes on the point of bankruptcy because they can’t find the staff/accept new residents.
Why is there such a shortage? Perfect storm. It's skilled work- not easy to find people with the right qualities. Covid has led to flight from the sector. Brexit means no more easy access to European labour markets. And so much competition for workers means carers can...
...find work in other industries which isn't so taxing for more money. People (and govt) says the industry should pay more money- some care homes can afford it. But those on local authority funding can only go as far as cash-strapped local authorities will let them...
...and ultimately that's directed by central government. There has been some extra funding from Whitehall but the main "solution" the government has proffered- the NICS rise- won't start to filter through to care (if it ever does) for another three years.
And the risk is that those expensive care homes- for rich people- can afford to buy up what labour is available; local authority homes, which can't, are then left with even bigger problems for those people they need to look after without means.
The problem looks set to get worse after 11th Nov when the government's care home vaccine mandate is introduced. This will require all care home staff (though not as yet those in domiciliary care) to have two doses of vaccine. This is for obvious reasons. But one consequence...
...is that there will be yet more workers lost. At the moment the % of fully vaccinated care home staff is 87.2% as of Oct 7th. By 11th Nov that should go up but it's just an average. In some places it's worse, eg:
Lambeth:80%
Luton: 79.6%
Manchester: 75.9%
Birmingham: 75.2%
Again, that should go up by November 11th but the government’s own middle point projection suggests 7% of the workforce will not be double jabbed in time- that’s 40,000 new vacancies- on top of the 112,000 which already exist.
One care manager we spoke to today said she'd already written to 30 of her staff saying they wouldn't be able to work for her as of Nov 11th because of the vaccine requirement. She holds little hope of being able to replace them, atop of the 500 vacancies she already has.
This isn't just a tragedy for the families concerned- it's a profound public policy problem. What happens when social care can't take patients? The NHS can't discharge them. What do we have a huge problem with? NHS waiting lists. And it's not even winter yet.
And it's an economic problem too. We've talked a lot about productivity recently and the benefits to it of restricting immigration. But here's the flip side: you know what isn't productive? People having to give up work to look after relatives because care isn't available.
DHSC spokesperson: “We appreciate the dedication and tireless efforts of care workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. We are providing at least £500 million to support the care workforce as part of the £5.4 billion to reform social care..."
“We're working to ensure we have the right no of staff with the skills to deliver high quality care to meet increasing demands. This includes running regular national recruitment campaigns and providing councils with over £1bn of additional funding for social care this year.”
Much more on this on tonight's @BBCNewsnight. Make sure you're watching- 1030pm BBC2.
One way homes are managing at the moment is by relying ever more on agency staff. But in many places even this is drying up.
Overall, can’t emphasise enough what a crisis this is and threatens to be.
INCYMI last night’s report on the staffing crisis facing the care sector from me and @ScarlettBarter in full. bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09…
One home care provider of 20 years' standing tells me: "It's never, ever been like this. We're constantly recruiting and have no buffer against staff shortages. We've a list of clients in hospital, bed blocking, who could be at home, but none of the care agencies can take them."
"It is a shocking situation and with winter ahead will only get worse."
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