Care services facing a mass exodus of older staff, bosses told

CARE services in Glasgow face a mass exodus of staff when historic equal pay claims are settled, health and social care chiefs have been warned.

With nearly one in five members of staff aged over 60, the vast majority of them women, managers fear many will take the opportunity to retire, once they receive a settlement and walk away.

A major recruitment drive has seen 300 new workers recruited in the last year, but home care manager Frances Mcmeeking told a meeting of the city’s Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) it may not be enough to prevent a care crisis in the city.

“We have an ageing workforce and there are layers of governance and legislation which can mean that in comparison with working in a supermarket, it is not so attractive a career,” she said.

The decision by Glasgow City Council to settle equal pay claims led to holes in the workforce, she said.

She added: “We fear that if this leads to significant pay-outs, our workforce will be depleted rapidly.

“Around 18 per cent of our staff are over 60 and many of those over-60s might see this as an opportunity to retire.”

Ms Mcmeeking said a change to terms and conditions which saw the majority of workers doing shifts of seven days on, and seven days off, had attracted a new cohort, particularly mothers, who wanted to work for the city’s arms-length care provider and welcomed the flexibility.

Roles can also attract those looking for “second jobs” she said. But no modelling has been done of how many staff exactly might leave, or when. “We are not in control of the timescale for any settlement,” she added.

Cordia chairman councillor Ken Andrew also sits on the HSCP. He warned the ageing population was already putting pressure on the system, with those receiving care becoming progressively more frail even as new people enter the system.

“Things are going to be pretty difficult for a number of years. This is something you need to develop a strategy for,” he told the HSCP.

North Lanarkshire Council, Scotland’s third largest local authority, has already paid out £130 million to settle equal-pay claims, but has not as yet seen an exodus of staff. A spokesman for the council said of those who had left, many had been close to retirement anyway.