The care industry is in crisis as vaccine mandates roll out
Care home bosses fear they won’t be able to replace staff members axed for refusing to get the covid-19 vaccination.
Managers at care homes across the UK have warned that the impact of forcing vaccines on their employees has been underestimated, reports
inews.
More than 32,000 care home staff in the UK are facing the axe after refusing to be inoculated against covid. With the ban on unvaccinated workers beginning on November 11, care home bosses are starting to worry about the monumental task of refilling their ranks.
Karen Loxton, who runs the Griffin Lodge service in Greater Manchester for adults with learning disabilities, has lost two full-time staffers and has also had to refuse one applicant because of their vaccination status.
Loxton said: “I’m disappointed that we’re losing some really fantastic colleagues. They are absolutely exceptional at their jobs and that experience and those sorts of values are irreplaceable.
“People coming in brand new through the door, that have never been in before, are not able to support these guys appropriately.”
She continues to say that having a staff member is only one part of the large picture.
“It’s about having put the time in, built those relationships, learned [residents’] individual communication needs, having an awareness of what their physical and mental health needs are.
“You don’t get that from an agency worker – as fantastic as they are, we just don’t get it.”
Meanwhile, Neil Russell, chairman of PJ Care, touches on the low-pay high-risk factors of the care industry.
He said: “You make a mistake while working behind a bar, you’ve spilled a pint, if you make a mistake while working in a care home, you’ll probably go to coroners court.
“The people we look after are going to die… people don’t want to get into that sector. It makes it all the more challenging to attract new people.”
He concluded: “The industry will survive, because that’s what we do, but there are going to be home closures, a lot of homes are saying we can’t admit any more people… And the problem with that [is] hospitals can’t discharge the patients.”
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