Charities call on government to address social care workforce crisis this winter

Five charities and membership organisations have written to Sajid Javid asking him to take immediate steps to ensure older people are not "stuck in" hospital this winter by addressing the "workforce crisis" and "relieve the pressure" on the NHS over the next few months.

In an open letter to The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the National Care Forum (NCF), British Geriatrics Society, Age UK, Independent Age, Care England and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy have called for immediate steps to be taken to address the shortage of care workers to ensure that older people are able to access the care they need when they are discharged from hospital.

This includes an immediate bonus and pay rise for staff working in social care and for care workers to be added to the Shortage Occupation List.

Vic Rayner, chief executive of the (NCF) said: “The pressure on people is immense. Shortages in the care workforce mean that people are not able to be in the place they call home and often are spending too long in hospital where they are unable to receive the care they need.

“There is no time for government to delay. If we fail to take decisive action to address this workforce crisis, then we fail the people and communities that we are all here to serve.”

The letter highlights stories shared through the British Geriatrics Society’s Timely Discharge campaign, illustrating the human impact on large numbers of older people in hospitals across the country who are medically fit for discharge but cannot access the care and rehabilitation they need to return home.

A massive shortfall in available care staff means that older people are ending up stuck in hospital when they do not need to be there.

Dr Jennifer Burns, president of the British Geriatrics Society, said: “Our Timely Discharge blog series shares the desperate stories of individuals, families, clinicians, managers and care providers, to raise awareness of the damaging effects on all involved when older people who are ready to go home are trapped in hospital for want of social care.

“The NHS is currently under extreme pressure without the added challenge of people remaining in hospital who medically do not need to be there. It is vital that Sajid Javid takes immediate action to relieve the pressure on the NHS and on social care over the upcoming winter months.”

’These delays cause misery and distress to older people who cannot get home’

The letter said by giving care staff a bonus and pay rise and by adding care workers to the Shortage Occupation List, the Secretary of State could bring a halt to the current exodus of care workers, ensuring social care is in place to enable older people to be discharged from hospital.

‘This will ensure timely care, support and rehabilitation is provided in the right place, and help to alleviate pressures in acute care, giving the NHS breathing space to get through the winter months.

The letter adds: ‘In the longer term, a sustainable plan for the recruitment, retention and support of the health and social care workforce providing care for older people is urgently needed.’

The charities are calling on the government to pay an immediate bonus to care workers in England.

Care workers in Scotland and Northern Ireland have received a £500 bonus and those in Wales were given two bonuses (one of £500 in May 2020 and a second of £735 in May 2021), as a thank you for their efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, care staff in England were denied bonuses.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK said: “Unfortunately, delayed discharges are back with a vengeance at a time when our hospitals are under unprecedented pressure from Covid-19 and treatment backlogs. These delays cause misery and distress to older people who cannot get home, and the principal reason for them is beyond dispute: a chronic and apparently growing shortage of care staff available to support older people when they leave hospital.

“The government must get a grip on this situation and at least try and stop the situation from becoming worse, by putting more money into care workers’ pockets now. The other UK nations have already paid retention bonuses to care workers and the government in Westminster should follow suit.”