Leaders of the care home said homes may not be able to cope with the usual influx of patients from hospitals on Easter Bank holidays over the weekend as the “chronic” deficit, which peaked in March, forced providers to close their beds.
Recent data published by Skills for Care showed that the vacancy rate in care services was 10 percent in March 2022, up from 5.9 percent in 2021.
The figures compiled by the Department of Health and Social Welfare represent the highest level recorded since the beginning of last year.
This comes at a time when figures released on Thursday revealed A&E waiting and ambulance delays in March were the worst it has ever been.
More than 390,000 people in a potentially life-threatening condition, including a suspected stroke, waited for more than an hour for an ambulance.
One in 10 patients waited more than two hours for an ambulance to arrive in 18 minutes.
According to the letter that was reported Health Service JournalHospital trusts were warned of pressure escalation in the Northwest and were told that the beds of 1,700 locally cared for homes were closed due to pressure from staff and cowboys.
In an interview IndependentMartin Green, chief executive of Care England, said its members were reporting a “chronic staff shortage” that was exacerbated by the fact that more workers tested positive for Omicron during the rental weeks.
He said care homes could not handle the influx of patients from hospitals, which usually happens before the bank holidays.
Mr Green explained: “Hospitals are making the decision to protect themselves, be it the bank holidays, Christmas and this at a time when it is also difficult for us to maintain our staff.
“The occupancy rate is much, much lower than usual – they range from about 88 to 90 percent, but it will usually be in the high 90s, which has affected the viability of homes.” Some have not only reduced the number of beds they make because of problems with Omicron because they can not get staff.
He said one of the houses in Buckinghamshire had to reduce its capacity by 10 beds due to staffing problems.
In addition to the lack of staff, the head of Care England said current legislation compels homes to implement certain measures to control infection, resulting in fewer beds and cost homes up to მილი 1 million.
This was stated by counsel Louise Gittins in an interview Independent That social assistance was already experiencing a “massive” shortage of staff as recruitment became more difficult, with one provider losing 100 employees after December.
He said the bank holidays would exacerbate the pressure, adding: “Whatever happens on a banking holiday will put pressure on issues such as pharmacies that are not open at all and where people are not because of the bank holidays.
“It feels like an ideal storm right now. We have high rates of Covid, which puts pressure on staff in terms of absenteeism. ”
Responding to NHS performance figures on Thursday, Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS providers, said hospitals were dealing with “the most resilient of hardships and pressures you can remember.”
He said: “We have to be honest about the four long-term gap lines that have been created in the last decade with aggravated Covid. From 2010 to 2020, the NHS went through the longest and deepest financial contraction in its history.
“Therefore, it failed to increase capacity to meet growing demand, which left a significant deficit.
“I had a large shortage of staff, 110,000 vacancies, and only 27 percent of the staff said their organization had enough staff to do the job properly. And the government is constantly failing to address social protection problems.
“Until these shortcomings are properly addressed, the NHS will remain under real pressure.”
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