Bed-blocking fuelled by care homes ‘crisis’
A STAFFING ‘crisis’ in Scottish care homes has led to an increase in bed blocking, an industry body has warned.
New figures show evidence of major problems in recruiting and retaining staff in care homes.
Scottish Care, a social care representative organisation, conducted a survey which shows 77 per cent of facilities have staff vacancies.
The poll found that on average 22 per cent of staff leave each year while 44 per cent of homes rely on recruiting workers from the EU.
Yesterday, Scottish Care chief executive Dr Donald Macaskill warned the stark figures show an emerging crisis in recruitment and retention of care home staff.
He said: ‘We know that the lack of staff is directly impacting on services’ ability to support people most in need, including those who are ready to be discharged from hospitals. Providers are regularly having to turn down care packages because they simply do not have the staff to deliver this care.’
Two years ago health secretary Shona Robison vowed to eradicate the problem of bed blocking, but recent figures show hundreds of people are being kept on wards when they should be sent home.
Delayed discharge happens when a person has been deemed medically ready to be released from hospital but is kept in.
One major causes of this is when elderly patients stay in hospitals while care plans are prepared.
Dr Macaskill said while the introduction of the Scottish Living Wage for care workers had helped, the SNP must do more to encourage people into the profession.
He added: ‘We can see no other profession which is so critical to the lives and wellbeing of so many, but which is so under-recognised and under-valued. If this doesn’t change, the future of care provision looks very bleak indeed.’
The survey was carried out in January and February with around 250 care facilities and firms which look after around 25,000 older people across Scotland taking part.
It also found that 89 per cent of care at home and housing support services have vacant positions.
Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘These figures show that until we boost staff in our care system then the problem will only get worse, and the SNP Government urgently need to put a long term staffing plan in place to deal with it.’
The poll was released as it was revealed that the cost of free personal care in Scotland is set to soar to £1.8billion by 2039.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: ‘In the coming year there will be almost half a billion pounds of NHS investment in social care and integration, underlining that we are treating this as a key priority.’
‘Future looks very bleak indeed’