UK Care homes close as a result of a staffing issue caused by a visa restriction.
UK Care homes Updates: Due to immigration system changes that the incoming Labour Government will not be reviewing, care facilities are having trouble filling positions.
As a result of an 81% decline in the number of visas granted to foreign workers, care facilities are bracing for an impending staffing crisis. Some have already been forced to close.
The Home Office reports that in the year ending in June 2024, the number of health and care worker visas granted decreased by more than 25%, from 121,290 to 89,095 in total.
In comparison to the same period previous year, the number of visas issued fell by 81% in the three months leading up to June, and the number of visas issued for dependents also decreased by 66%.
Care facilities issued a warning that the immigration system’s changes, which went into effect earlier this year, were making it harder to hire new staff members and would force more of them to close.
Care workers have been prohibited from entering the UK since March, and the industry claims that this is deterring people from travelling there with their spouses and kids, also referred to as dependants.
According to a senior Home Office source, the government will not be loosening the regulations pertaining to health and care visas and will instead stick with the stricter measures that the Conservatives implemented during their immigration crackdown.
They declared, “We’re sticking with the restrictions; we’re not looking at it again.”
People who “desperately need care and support” are being impacted by a staffing shortfall, according to Nadra Ahmed, chair of the trade association National Care Association, who stated that a decline in overseas workers is a significant factor. There are over 130,000 openings in the field.
According to her, over 70,000 carers are hired from abroad.
She informed me, “They are contributing significantly to our ability to provide care.”
“That fewer individuals wish to travel to the UK in order to help our industry is quite concerning. The regulations concerning dependents have also had a significant effect.
“Social homes have already shut down, and they claimed it was because they couldn’t find workers,” she continued.
Due to a shortage of British workers to fulfil the rising need for care from an older population, Ms. Ahmed expressed concern that more homes will close as a result of the visa modifications.
The speaker stated that minimum wage is frequently paid to care home employees due to insufficient funding from local authorities. These authorities fund social care through a combination of grants from the central government and council tax.
She remarked, “We’d love to pay them more, but the funding from local authorities is woefully inadequate.”
The operator of five care facilities with 148 beds in the King’s Lynn, West Norfolk, area, Raj Sehgal, stated that there has been a discernible decrease in the number of applications from outside the UK as a result of the visa modifications.
“People from overseas no longer apply to us in such large numbers,” he stated. “Mostly, it’s people who are trying to change occupations right now or migrants who aren’t working the necessary hours at their current jobs. Since they are already in the UK, changing jobs is much simpler for them.
Migrant labourers make up around half of his workforce. Before they began employing people from overseas, he claimed they “really struggled” to locate employees. A large number of his employees are from Africa and India.
The Conservative government loosened visa requirements for carers in 2022, which made it simpler for business owners like Mr. Sehgal to fill openings.
He said that in the absence of migrant labour, bed occupancy had dropped to just 67% and was now 93%. He stated, “It was during a period when the hospitals were begging for patients to be discharged.”
“We post job openings, as everyone else in the care industry does on a regular basis, and we advertise them,” the man stated. “To tell the truth, not a single local application is received by us.
“If we do receive any domestic candidates, they typically either don’t show up for the interview, don’t reply to our messages, or, in the last three instances, they appear to have lasted for roughly 72 hours before calling in ill.
“People just don’t come through for us,”
He claimed that because the government does not provide adequate funding for social care, care facilities cannot pay more than the minimum wage, and as a result, Britons would prefer to work for the same salary stocking shelves in a supermarket.
According to Mr. Sehgal, he frequently hires the spouses of his foreign employees, who likewise make tax payments and support the local economy.
He remarked, “They don’t come here to sit on their asses and wonder, ‘Oh, what benefits can I claim?'” “They are ineligible for any benefits.”
After one of his employees enquired about his potential to help her deaf spouse find employment, he was hired to clean and assist in the kitchen of the assisted living facility.
The 58-year-old Mr. Sehgal thinks it is unfair for the UK to expect people to come here for several years just to be cut off from their family.
He declared, “This is a tsunami waiting to happen.” “This nation’s healthcare needs are expanding at an exponential rate.
Every day, an increasing number of people require care at a more complex level. Additionally, there are fewer persons willing to take care of those individuals. There must be a sacrifice made.
“Today’s statistics show there is still a long way to go to reduce historically high levels of legal migration,” a Home Office official stated. Although there are many advantages to immigration for the UK, it needs to be managed and supervised to ensure systemic fairness.
The government is already working to address the underlying issues that lead to increased international recruitment, which continues to increase the number of foreign workers granted skilled worker visas. We will make sure to train up our domestic workforce and address this skills gap by tying immigration, the labour market, and the skills systems together.
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