Jan 13, 2022
Care services struggle with Omicron staff-sickness spike
The National Care Forum says existing staff shortages, absences caused by the Covid variant and delayed PCR results have left many services struggling. Managers running more than 5,000 care services, with nearly 100,000 staff caring for 130,000 people across the UK, responded to the organisation's January questionnaire. Of these, two-thirds of those providing home care are no longer able to take new clients and nearly half of care homes have closed to new residents. In Norfolk, Sarah Wyatt says her company, I Care Service, which provides homecare in the Dereham area, has closed its books to new clients and is using overtime and office staff to cover existing patients. In a statement, a Department for Health and Social Care official said: "Care staff are working incredibly hard, and to strengthen the workforce we have provided £462.5m for recruitment and retention, expanded the Health and Care Visa scheme, and are running our Made with Care recruitment campaign."Throughout the pandemic, we have made almost £2.4bn in specific funding available for adult social care as well as an extra £60m to keep people in care homes safe over January.
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