The Independent Care Group is calling on the Government to urgently bring forward its workforce plan for the sector amidst fears of a dire shortage of staff.
Immigration figures released today show an 80% drop in the number of people seeking to come to the UK to work in the NHS or social care.
Care providers fear that will hit the care of older, vulnerable and disabled aduilts as there is already a shortage of some 131,000 workers in the sector.
Mike Padgham, Chair of the ICG, said: “A fall in the number of overseas staff is the last thing social care needs at the moment, as we are struggling to fill shifts as it is. The last government’s brutal measures are working and the lifeline of overseas staff to help staff homecare and care and nursing homes has been cut.
“The question is, what do we do now? As we warned at the time, no serious measures have been put in place to replace those overseas workers who have played such a key role in helping us to keep delivering care.
“We desperately need to see the new Government’s promised care workforce strategy and with it some funding measures that will help us to properly reward care workers and enable us to recruit at home, otherwise we will be in dire straits.
“Skills for Care reports that there are 131,000 vacancies in social care – with the availability of overseas staff dwindling, we are going to be very, very short.
“And as we approach winter, when staffing levels in health and social care are always placed under the greatest demand, will we be able to cope?
“With 1.6m people unable to get the care they need and demand for care growing every day, we are struggling to maintain services.”
Figures suggest social care will need to recruit an extra 540,000 care workers to cope with rising demand, by 2040.
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