Covid staff shortages cause care sector to go into crisis in North East

The managing director of Caremark, a home care company based in Redcar and Cleveland said the situation has gotten so extreme that she has had to do home visits herself seven days a week.

Michelle Jackson, the Managing Director said: "We're struggling with recruitment anyway.

"I'm the managing director and I'm doing morning through to night, seven days this week because we've had to dispatch all of our office staff.

Read more: Man jailed for online racist abuse of Boro footballer Yannick Bolasie

"That's how bad things actually are. We need to get the word out to see if there's anything anyone can do to help us because I've been crying out for help from the government for ages and I'm not getting anything back."

Caremark look after around 550 people in Redcar and surrounding towns and deliver 6,000 hours every week of care.

Caremark support people who need palliative care, moving and handling, dementia care, people who have had falls, domestic care, shopping calls and people who suffer from loneliness.

Ms Jackson said: "We have about 300 carers in total and at the moment we've got 40 people that are off due to Covid and having to isolate either having to wait for a PCR test coming back because they've had a positive lateral. We're many troops down.

Michelle Jackson

"We encourage our carers to still get a PCR test because that is more accurate than a lateral flow unfortunately and that's the problem, that we're having, we can't rely on the laterals. If they get a positive lateral flow we can't just off-rota someone for 10 days. We need for a fact that they are definitely positive and we need that evidence."

Ms Jackson has contacted several MPs in the area and the Tees Valley mayor voicing her concerns.

Simon Clarke, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, said: "The Government is keenly aware of the staffing pressures affecting the care sector. 

"That's why we have provided local authorities with an additional £60m to support the Adult Social Care Sector in January. 

"This extra money can be used to support infection prevention control, including paying staff sickness and isolation pay related to Covid-19. It can be used to help improve ventilation and also to increase direct payments. 

"This is on top of the £388.3 million already provided to local authorities for ICP and testing, and the £462.5 million to support the recruitment and retention of the Adult Social Care workforce.

"We're acting now to help the care sector through these uniquely difficult circumstances and we will continue to work with those within the sector to ensure we achieve the best possible outcomes for staff and those receiving care alike."

This comes after worried care providers elsewhere in the North East repeated an urgent plea for an army of volunteers to be set up to tackle a growing staff crisis in the sector.

The Independent Care Group (ICG) fears the shortage – fuelled by rapidly rising cases of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant – will leave providers unable to provide care.

Its chair, Mike Padgham, has written to the Health Secretary for a second time, appealing to him to tackle the social care staffing crisis.

Michelle Jackson and carers from Caremark

He has called for the government to set up an emergency 'army' of volunteers to step in and help in care settings.

“I wrote in August and I am writing again now as the situation is becoming desperate,” Mr Padgham said.

“Every day we are hearing from the operators of nursing and care homes and from homecare providers who cannot operate properly because they are so short of staff.

“Before Covid-19 the sector had around 120,000 care staff vacancies. After the upheaval of Brexit, the compulsory ‘no jab, no job’ and escalating cases of Covid-19, we are on our knees and we need help before we have to start rationing care.

"After I wrote in August, it took four months to receive a reply and little has been done to properly tackle the staffing crisis.

“Care providers cannot go on as they are or the amount and the standard of care are going to be under threat and compromised.

“The idea of a volunteer army for care – similar to that being set up to support the NHS – is a serious one and one that must be implemented immediately, before it is too late.”

Stephen Chandler, president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass), said providers across England were reporting absences of between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of their workforce.

Around half of care homes in Middlesbrough are currently not accepting new admissions after Covid outbreaks are hitting the sector hard, with a council director saying the situation could deteriorate further.

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated Teesside Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054