Charities call for immediate Government action to help elderly get home from hospital
The association for not for profit care providers, The National Care Forum, along with five other charities and membership organisations have called on the UK Government to take immediate steps to ensure that older people are not forced to remain in hospital longer than medically necessary this winter.
An open letter to Sajid Javid sent by the National Care Forum, British Geriatrics Society, Age UK, Independent Age, Care England and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy calls for an immediate bonus and pay rise for social care staff and for care workers to be added to the Shortage Occupation List.
It also stated that in the longer term, a sustainable plan for the recruitment, retention and support of the health and social care workforce providing care for older people is urgently needed.
Vic Rayner OBE, CEO of the National Care Forum, said: “The pressure on people is immense. Shortages in the care workforce mean that people are not able to be in the place they call home and often are spending too long in hospital where they are unable to receive the care they need. There is no time for government to delay.
“If we fail to take decisive action to address this workforce crisis, then we fail the people and communities that we are all here to serve.”
Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK added: “Unfortunately, delayed discharges are back with a vengeance at a time when our hospitals are under unprecedented pressure from COVID-19 and treatment backlogs.
“These delays cause misery and distress to older people who cannot get home, and the principal reason for them is beyond dispute: a chronic and apparently growing shortage of care staff available to support older people when they leave hospital.
“The Government must get a grip on this situation and at least try and stop the situation from becoming worse, by putting more money into care workers’ pockets now. The other UK nations have already paid retention bonuses to care workers and the government in Westminster should follow suit.”
