There will be enough turkeys but not care workers this Christmas

British poultry producers have said there will be enough turkeys for Christmas, but staff shortages in the care sector means the same can’t be said for care workers this festive season.

Richard Griffiths, chief executive of the British Poultry Council, has said everyone who wants a bird will be able to buy one this Christmas. With the poultry industry facing workforce shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit, the government allowed the poultry industry to recruit 5,500 temporary staff from overseas.

No such visas were forthcoming for care workers, even though the care sector is facing acute staff shortages compounded by Brexit and difficulty in recruiting care workers from the EU and the government’s introduction of a mandatory Covid vaccination rule for care home staff from 11 November.

Niccii Gillett, manager of a care home which cares for 18 residents, said it was “heartbreaking” to lose staff who quit before mandatory vaccination for care home staff was introduced.

Niccii Gillett said: “I had 30 to 40 staff. I’ve lost six staff.”

The government said more than 105,000 vacancies need to be filled currently.

Care homes ‘gazumped by the NHS’

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has announced that all NHS staff will need to be vaccinated by next April.

A battle for nurses is also being played out, with a care home director admitting he is being “gazumped” for staff by the NHS.

Care home director Geoff Butcher at Blackadder Corporation, which operates six homes, pays nurses £19.50 an hour but two of his nurses have resigned to join an agency offering £35 an hour.

“That agency then came to us and said we can have these staff back at £52 an hour. They want £95 an hour for those nurses on a bank holiday nightshift. It’s utterly unaffordable”, he told the Guardian.

“Because the NHS can’t recruit they are having to use these agencies as well. So the NHS is bidding against us, therefore they’re pushing the rates up, and the whole thing has gone into a completely crazy spiral. The agencies are just grossly profiteering out of it."

“We’re trying to find a way of recruiting people from overseas but that takes weeks rather than days.”

Government can ‘rush through temporary visas’

Care providers have repeatedly urged the government to change immigration rules to attract overseas staff by allowing all care workers onto the country’s Shortage Occupation List.

Jemima Johnstone, head of corporate immigration at Gherson Solicitors has said: “Our NHS and care sectors are dangerously close to collapse and without the staff, those in need will not be cared for appropriately.

“The government needs to take a hard look at how to manage this crisis. If they can rush through temporary visas for HGV drivers from across Europe they can certainly do the same for the care sector.

“The whole process needs to be overhauled."

Under the current immigration rules, care bosses who need to recruit care workers are only able to sponsor non-UK and Irish nationals as senior care workers – a role that meets the minimum deemed skill requirement for a ‘Skilled Worker’ visa.

Ms Johnstone added: "This needs to be expanded to recruit staff of all levels. The immigration process can potentially be achieved in six weeks, if recruiting a European national, but that’s with a focused approach to applying and scrupulous attention to the requirements, paying for priority service whenever it is available, and a fair share of good luck.

“Recruiting carers from abroad is not without its significant costs, especially when seeking a fast-track priority service. We urge the Government to take a long hard look at the mess that we find ourselves in and look to make the recruitment for those to care for our most vulnerable a priority.”

There is a huge range of job opportunities in the care home sector. If you are looking for a job in social care, click here for the leading UK care home jobs board.