Council gives care homes £100 per bed to tackle staff shortages

Essex County Council is providing emergency funding of £2.5 million to address care sector staff shortages by giving £100 for every care home bed it commissions.

As some care home managers fear they will be forced to shut care homes if they cannot get enough staff, a forward plan decision statement from the council stated: 'The decision relates to the award of money to care homes to help them deal with the current staffing difficulties they are experiencing.

'It is proposed to pay all care homes from which ECC commissions care a sum of £100 per bed.

'This is likely to cost around £2.5m.

'Payment will be subject to compliance with the terms of a grant agreement which will require the money to be spent on specified activities or returned to ECC.'

Care home managers fear they may have to shut homes

Nationwide the social care sector needs over 100,000 job vacancies to be filled to address workforce shortages, according to Skills For Care.

The Institute of Health and Social Care Management, which recently carried out a snap poll of its members, highlighted the extent of the recruitment crisis.

Over 200 care home managers responded to the poll which showed 63 per cent are worried their care homes may have to shutdown because of understaffing.

Some 81 per cent of those responding (who represent more than a third of institute members) are concerned the safety of residents in their care homes is being compromised by staff shortages.

The sector's workforce crisis means around 5,000 people have been turned away from care services since 1 September, according to poll by the National Care Forum (NCF). Some 67 per cent say they have limited or stopped admissions of new people into care homes or had turned down requests for community care.

The mandatory Covid-19 vaccine deadline of 11 November for care home staff is exacerbating workforce challenges. The government estimates up to 100,000 workers could leave the care sector because they are not fully vaccinated.

The government has announced that care homes and home care providers will benefit from a new £162.5 million workforce retention and recruitment fund to attract the care workforce.

Tim Cooper, the chief executive of disability charity United Response said: “This year’s CQC State of Care report reinforces much of what is already widely known – that the social care crisis has now gone from bad to worse and things must change fast.

“Health and social care staff are exhausted from managing the pandemic, and the CQC rightly considers this a key finding of its report. The workforce is quickly becoming depleted as we head into the challenging winter months. Urgent action is needed to tackle staffing issues and the increased stresses caused by staff shortages.

"The Chancellor must use this week’s Spending Review announcement to confirm ring-fenced monies for local authorities to fund fair rates of pay for social care workers and swiftly stave off the ‘tsunami’ of unmet care across the country this winter.”

Care market 'very stressed and stretched'

At a Health and Wellbeing Board meeting in September, Essex County Council’s adult social care director Nick Presmeg highlighted the challenges facing the social care sector.

Nick Pressmeg said: "The care market is very stressed and very stretched - you can earn more money picking pears than you can providing domiciliary care. If you work 40 hours a week you will earn £17,000 and you will have travel costs. That is not sustainable."

At a meeting on October 12, councillors discussed the subject of giving care workers a pay rise. Councillor John Spence, who is responsible for adult social care in Essex, said that paying care workers a Real Living Wage, which is currently £9.50 per hour, would cost Essex taxpayers £15 million and is a decision which must be "properly costed".

Cllr Spence said he is "very firmly committed" to improving the lives of care workers who work for the county council directly and those in the private sector. "We do want to see pay increase. But the answer lies in the new Health and Care Bill and social care reforms.”