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Care providers hit by staff absences of up to 50%, survey reveals
Providers of social care are struggling to handle the latest wave of COVID-19 infections, with some reporting staff absences of up to 50%, according to National Care Forum (NCF).
A snapshot survey by the NCF, which includes a number of social landlords among its membership, found several cases where staff absences were between 11% and 40%.
Conducted between 1 and 8 January 2021, the survey found some care settings where absences due to coronavirus were as high as 50%.
That compares with an average staff absence rate across the board of 7% in November, according to the NCF.
The body said the strain on staffing was because of a combination of positive COVID-19 cases after testing, self-isolation following contact tracing, shielding and childcare responsibilities.
Providers are under “huge pressure”, it warned, with services being maintained through a combination of offering extra overtime to other staff, bringing in staff from other services and not accepting new referrals or admissions from hospital or the community.
Where absences cannot be resolved in-house, care providers are relying on agency staff, the NCF said.
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Vic Rayner, executive director of the NCF, said the government should recognise the pressure social care is under, with staff “shattered both physically and emotionally” from their work throughout the pandemic.
Ms Rayner added: “While the recent focus has been on the pressure being experienced by hospitals and the NHS, this is a red flag that pressure is mounting in the social care sector, too. We must pay close attention to this as social care is integral to the overall system.
“If people cannot be supported to leave hospital, whether that is by moving into a care home or having care at home, then the whole system will fail.
“NHS saves lives – but so does social care – and it must be properly supported to ensure that it can play its vital role in making the whole system work for communities.”
The NCF called for vaccinations for care workers to be delivered at pace and for government to prioritise the turnaround on testing from care homes.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “The government knows the sector is currently facing acute pressure, caused by the escalating number of infections in recent weeks and are working with local authorities and providers to ensure we are doing everything we can to support care services during this challenging period.
“We have done everything we can to protect care homes throughout the pandemic by investing billions of pounds of additional funding, providing free PPE [personal protective equipment], infection-control guidance and increased staff testing.”
Update at 11:30am, 13.01.21:
This story was updated to include a response from the government.
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