Healthcare Management Solutions

Following the publication of the Care Quality Commission’s State of Care 2021/22 report, Tony Stein, CEO of Healthcare Management Solutions (HCMS) which operates more than 70 care homes across the UK, says the sector is facing a staffing crisis which stops social care supporting the NHS.

The CQC report says reduced capacity in adult social care has contributed to bed-blocking in hospitals, with only two in five patients discharged when medically fit to leave.

Tony Stein is the chief executive of Healthcare Management Solutions, which operates around 70 care homes across the UK.

He says:

“Long-term staff planning has been discussed at length for many years and today’s catastrophic staff shortage is testament to how ineffective that planning has been. We have an immediate and urgent need to improve funding in social care to allow operators to pay a wage that reflects the responsibility and importance of caring as a vocation.

“We must not however shy away from finding the right long-term solution which will include pay, funding for training, workforce recognition, and portability of qualifications and training. A central carer register linked to a qualifications database is the crucial first step.

“I previously wrote to the Government highlighting the staffing crisis in the social care sector, which is a key driver of bed blocking across the health and social care system.

“Not since the end of the Second World War has there been such a need for urgent, radical reform to social care; we need to recruit from overseas in the short term, and, in the long term, develop our own pipeline of homegrown nurses and carers by making training affordable and accessible.

“A properly staffed social care system could help alleviate pressure on the NHS by freeing up beds, thus reducing bed blocking; a major cause of extending waiting times.

“The gap between the people able and willing to work in the UK and the number of job vacancies is simply too large. We just do not have the people willing or qualified to work in care homes.

“We have found hiring from abroad is prohibitively expensive with our last calculation of cost for recruiting from overseas running to thousands of pounds per person dependent upon salary and with no guarantee of them staying once here.

“The overseas recruitment system needs urgent review to make it cost-effective and streamlined so it is easier to bring in carers and qualified nurses.

“We desperately need to develop a pipeline of homegrown nurses. We need to alleviate the financial burden on student nurses and fund training to make it financially attractive to those seeking a career in nursing. It will take a few years for them to qualify, but we can be sure that an investment now will pay dividends in the medium to long-term.”