Scottish Care warns of severe workforce crisis

Brexit could exacerbate a “severe workforce crisis” in the care sector, potentially forcing homes and others services to shut, the industry has warned.

Scottish Care, the organisation that represents independent care providers, said it was already “experiencing unprecedented difficulties in terms of viability and sustainability”.

With European citizens making up as much as 8% of the social care nursing workforce, it warned of the impact that leaving the European Union (EU) could have on staffing.

Scottish Care said measures must be put in place to make working in the sector a more attractive option for UK citizens, claiming “it is routinely possible to get paid more money to stack shelves in a local supermarket than it is to deliver care and support to some of our most vulnerable citizens”.

The organisation warned: “Even with a significant increase, it is extremely unlikely that recruiting more UK nationals alone will be sufficient to resolve the recruitment challenge that exists within social care.”

MSPs on Holyrood’s Health Committee are considering the impact Brexit will have on the health and social care sector in Scotland

Scottish Care, in response, said it was “profoundly concerned” about the impact of reducing the availability of workers from the EU.

In a submission to the committee, the organisation said: “There are a number of significant risks to health and social care provision associated with Brexit, not least a worsening of what is already a severe workforce recruitment and retention crisis to the point whereby services cease to operate.”