Leading care home jobs site warns of staffing crisis as it sees record levels of vacancies

carehome.co.uk, the leading care home jobs site, is warning of an imminent staffing crisis due to the mandatory vaccination policy which comes into force on 11 November, as it sees its highest ever number of job vacancies.

One in four care home staff disagree with mandatory vaccination according to research by carehome.co.uk, with the government predicting 40,000 staff will refuse to have the vaccine and consequently lose their jobs.

carehome.co.uk has seen the number of job vacancies nearly double in the last six months, from 4,832 in January to 8,142 currently. In August 2020, job vacancies stood at 4,959 and in August 2019, they were 5,241.

Among the care home jobs advertised on carehome.co.uk, there are currently 4,262 vacant care worker roles and 1,322 vacant nurse roles.

A spokesperson for carehome.co.uk said: “This is the highest ever amount of job vacancies we have had and it shows care homes are seeing a huge increase in demand for more care staff. Care homes have suffered enough during the pandemic. We implore the government to put funding in place to support care homes to attract staff, so they can continue to provide quality care for residents.

“Care providers are already dipping into their own pockets to offer ‘Golden Hellos’, with one care home offering new recruits the chance to win a £22k car. Brexit hasn’t helped. We need a solution in place before winter takes hold and exacerbates an already fragile situation.”

'We need urgent funding because staff shortages are now becoming critical'

Nicola Richards, director of Palms Row Health Care Ltd called the staff shortages "terrifying" and has struggled to recruit any temporary staff for her residents over the last few weeks.

Mike Padgham, chair of the Independent Care Group (ICG) is urging the government to set up an emergency volunteer task force of volunteers including retired nurses, doctors, carers, to help the sector cope with the recruitment crisis in the coming months.

He said: “This would need to be done quickly so that they can be DBS checked and trained before winter pushes us to tipping point.

“We need some urgent funding to be put in place, like the government did with infection control, to enable providers to address pay within the sector and help them to recruit, because staff shortages are now becoming critical."

Mr Padgham also warns that the consequences of "providers failing," there will only be so much local authorities will be able to do when "contracts are handed back" or "care and nursing homes close."

He added: “If social care fails then NHS care will start to fail too, as the two need each other to survive."

60% care homes could be forced to sack staff if they refuse Covid vaccine

Meanwhile, new data has found six out of 10 care homes say they could be forced to sack staff members who refuse to have the Covid-19 vaccination ahead of the government deadline.

Out of 530 care home managers across the UK polled, 318 said they would be forced to sack staff by November 11 based on current vaccination rates.

The data produced by the Institute of Health and Social Care Management (IHSCM) also found 27.6 per cent of managers had already lost between one and five staff due to their opposition to mandatory vaccination, while nearly four per cent said they had already lost as many as between six and 10 care workers.

Jane Brightman, director of social care at IHSCM said she is “genuinely worried” about the “stability” of the care sector, especially as the country heads into “autumn and winter”.

Managers said the main reasons staff gave for refusing the vaccine were pregnancy or fertility-related, religious or ethical concerns, fear of vaccinations or that they were anti-vaccination in general.

The data also suggests around 35 per cent of managers expect they will lose up to a fifth of their staff, 19 per cent fear they will lose between six and 10 per cent of care workers, and 5 per cent believe they will lose between 11 and 15 per cent of staff.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “It is our responsibility to do everything we can to reduce the risk for the most vulnerable and, following extensive public consultation, we have taken an approach that reflects the experiences and concerns of both providers and people living and working in care homes.

“We continue to work with the care sector to encourage all adult social care staff to get vaccinated in local areas where vaccine uptake is lower so care homes are able to comply with the new regulations.”

If you are looking for a job in social care, click here for the leading UK care home jobs board.

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