Care home manager Oona Goldworthy has urged Westminster to take action and provide funding for carers, saying that investment in staff is needed urgently. She also warned that “quite a lot of” staff will be lost in the next few weeks and urged for higher wages for care home staff. It came after England’s watchdog warned that social staff are “exhausted and depleted”.
Speaking to Jeremy Vine show on Five, care home manager Oona Goldworthy said: “We are just about to lose quite a lot of staff in the next few weeks because of the vaccination issue.
“So that’s one issue.
“We’re also used to have some staff from the EU, of course, that’s no longer possible.
“And there needs to be an investment in the training and the development of our care staff so they see it as a proper career opportunity.”
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She went on: “Some of that works going on but not enough.
“And I think we also have to recognise that actually paying carers, on a minimum wage is just not acceptable.
“It’s just not acceptable anymore.
“So, some of the money that’s coming out of the National Insurance contributions are going to go up.”
She continued: “They ought to be coming back to care directly.
“And that’s not going to happen for another three years.
“So what we’re calling for is to be brought forward.”
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Care providers in the UK are facing acute problems in retaining frontline staff.
Mangers from care services say staff shortages are forcing them to turn down new clients.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) says social care staff are “exhausted and depleted” and working under intense levels of pressure
Such staff are leaving the key worker roles to fill shortages in other sectors.
The government has promised extra money to train and recruit new care workers.