Brexit ideology risks care home disaster

Stopping migrant care workers from moving to UK could cause a staffing crisis for homes

One of the main selling points of Brexit was the idea that it would result in an increase in jobs and wages for native Britons by reducing the supply of labour from the EU.

The main practical problem with this argument is that putting a border between the UK and its biggest international market will damage the overall economy so the demand from employers for staff will fall.

The fact the UK now faces one of the biggest recessions in its history because of the coronavirus outbreak will only exacerbate the situation. However, for Brexiteers like Home Secretary Priti Patel, it may still be an article of faith not to include people like care workers in the new immigration system due to come into force in January.

The idea is that care sector companies will employ British people to do the work instead. So amid the Covid-19 crisis, which has required a whole new way of working, the deaths of residents and staff, and an economic recession, these firms are being asked to spend money on hiring and training up people who may well be entirely new to the job of looking after elderly people no longer able look after themselves. According to an official estimate, there were nearly 10,000 EU citizens working in social care in Scotland in 2018, which shows how valuable they have been to the sector.

Some may view care work as an unskilled occupation. But despite the low pay, genuinely caring for a vulnerable and frail person with dementia is far from an easy task and much more of a vocation than it might seem from outside. Caring is a job you really have to care about to do well. It remains to be seen whether or not large numbers of those who lose jobs in other sectors will line up for such low-paid work – and whether they stick at it and be good at it.

Over the years, there have occasionally been horror stories about vulnerable people living in care being neglected or mistreated. So everyone should know what can happen when things go wrong.

Questions about the high number of deaths from Covid-19 in care homes will soon need to be answered. If, at the same time as this process is taking place, reports of serious problems because of a lack of staff begin to emerge, voters are unlikely to forgive those responsible. So alarm bells should be ringing for Boris Johnson and co and a rethink is required. If not, care homes could be heading for a disaster not of their making once again.