The care staff crisis: exploring its impact
Did you know the number of unfilled care jobs rose by 52% in a year nationally? (Skills for Care). And more than half a million adults in England are currently waiting for social care assistance? Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS).
It's a worrying time for staff, home carers and support organisations. Such growing numbers of people needing care and the increasing complexity of their needs, coupled with the current recruitment and retention crisis, means that demand is far outstripping capacity.
So where does this leave the sector?
The national statistics reflect the picture in our county. With many carers and managers citing burnout, its having a detrimental impact on the people who need care. Despite the valuable and amazing work people do, it's clear that more needs to be done to support them.
What did we do?
We looked at what's happening across North Yorkshire and called for immediate and significant action to deal with these issues and future-proof care services.
We ran three short surveys, one for individuals who need care and unpaid carers, one for care home and domiciliary care staff, and one for other support organisations.
Experiences were gathered through surveys and one-to-one conversations with people receiving care, unpaid carers and care staff. The report found that the care staff crisis is:
- Having a detrimental impact on the physical and mental health of people who need care.
- Placing significant pressure on unpaid carers, mentally, physically, and financially.
- Increasing the stress and pressure placed on care home and domiciliary care staff.
- Perpetuating capacity issues in hospitals due to delayed discharge.
The care staff crisis: exploring its impact
Click on the download button below to read our latest report
Thank you to Healthwatch North Yorkshire and everyone who took part in this study. We are going above and beyond national requirements to support social care services. We have invested more money in staffing and care provider support, as well as expanding our hands-on service which helps care services to improve their quality.
Despite this, the challenges highlighted in the report reflect the unprecedented times nationally and locally. Where people have concerns then please contact our customer feedback team on social.complaints@northyorks.gov.uk and we will follow up with the relevant services.
Additional feedback on our report
"The case studies presented in this report reiterate the difficulties the care sector is facing; not least the recruitment and retention of staff due to burnout as well as the detrimental impact on home carers, those being cared for and their families and loved ones.
Despite the hard work and commitment from those delivering care and who commission services, the significant lack of qualified and available staff is having a devastating impact on the provision of care for those people who most need it most.
And whilst we welcome the Government’s pledge to increase social care spending, more work is needed. Unless urgent action is taken, this crisis is only going to worsen as the number of people who need care increases, the number of care workers continues to fall, and the cost-of-living crisis deepens".
Ashley Green, CEO, Healthwatch North Yorkshire
"For me, working in the health and social care sector has brought me a second family. The atmosphere is so lovely and everyone is so thankful for one another, both staff and residents. We have a massive supportive bubble in the home. I feel very honoured to help each and every resident and to be welcomed into their home and making a difference is amazing. For me, helping someone, seeing them smile and hearing them say 'thank you' is like winning the lotto! I just love being at work, surrounded by my second family."
Charlotte, Health & social care worker
"The whole system is feeling the pressure, especially with staffing challenges, so we welcome the opportunity to work creatively together to deliver joined up health and care services, and we are exploring new ways of working for the benefit of the communities we serve."
Simon Morritt, Chief Executive, York & Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
"We welcome this timely report, as it once again shines a light on the critical challenges facing the delivery of social care across our region and the rest of the country.
The catastrophic shortage of staff – some 165,000 across the country – is having a devastating impact upon care, harming the country’s ability to look after older and vulnerable people. That is having a traumatic and detrimental effect on those closest to us, our mothers and fathers, our aunts and uncles, our brothers and sisters and our friends, who are being denied proper care, close to where they live.
It is pushing many care providers to the brink as they cannot function without the staff they need now, let alone the extra we will need in the future, bearing in mind we will need an extra 480,000 care staff by 2035, to deal with rising demand. Where are they going to come from?
And it is having a chronic, knock-on effect on NHS healthcare services as a lack of available social care packages creates gridlock within hospitals.
The answer lies partly in funding, as we desperately need the minimum £7bn extra a year in the sector to start paying carers what they deserve and to attract them into the sector. And we need to cut the bureaucracy that too often prevents any penny of extra funding getting to the frontline. We also need longer term contracts from commissioners, to give care providers the confidence and stability they need to invest and pay their staff better."
Mike Padgham, Chair, the Independent Care Group
