A COMMITTEE tasked with advising the government on the crisis in social care has said in its annual report that the situation has deteriorated further and its recommendations have been ignored.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) reported that there are around 70,000 more vacancies in social care now than before the pandemic.

This makes the overall vacancy rate 11.1 per cent, with the report indicating that much is due to Brexit and the ending of free movement.

Even though the recommendations have been with the government for eight months, the situation is getting worse, a fact highlighted in this annual report.

According to the Spinal Injuries Association, which collaborated closely with MAC to represent those people who recruit and use carers from overseas, many are still struggling to access the care they need. 

For 51-year-old Lynda Yu finding the right care has become a matter of life or death, a problem that seems to intensify over the Christmas period.

Yu has a spinal cord injury following a road accident in 2004 which has left her paralysed in both the upper and lower body and she is fully dependent on the care she receives throughout the day and night.

So complex are her care needs, Yu would end up in A&E without it. Yu is struggling to find anyone who can meet her care requirements and has even considered taking her own life because of it.

“I need qualified carers or life isn’t worth living. I know I should stay alive and fight it but how can you fight it if you don’t have anything to fight with?”

When she couldn’t access the care, her devoted partner Michel tried to care for her, but the stress became intolerable.

Just to get Yu ready for the day took him around three or four hours which included carrying her from bed to shower chair and undertaking her bowel management routine.

“My partner can no longer cope, so I have looked at private care options. My mum is sick, and I don’t have extended family close by. I can’t go without care for one day because if my catheter bag isn’t emptied, I suffer from something called autonomic dysreflexia which could be fatal.

“The government must allow overseas carers to come and work in the UK again, so they can care for and support people like me to lead a fulfilled life. Care, and especially intimate personal care, is a difficult job. It takes a special kind of person to do it well.”   

In July 2021, the government commissioned MAC to undertake an independent review of adult social care, and the impact on the sector of ending freedom of movement.

It contained a total of 19 recommendations, relating to pay and conditions and immigration policy for social care, that would help to ease the burden on employers and migrants alike which have so far been ignored.

In its annual report, MAC expressed its disappointment in the government, stressing that the cost-of-living crisis is particularly severe for social care workers, given that their pay remains tied to insufficient government funding and that they’re generally not well compensated for their fuel costs.

Following recent announcements by the Chancellor in his Autumn Statement of increased funding available for the social care sector MAC stated in its report: “The conditions now faced by the social care sector are unsustainable.

“Despite calls from the health and social care select committee, the public accounts committee, the NHS Confederation, Care England and numerous other organisations, the government appears to have no ambitions to raise pay in a material and properly funded way.”

When care staff are paid at the level of the living wage or near to it, and the local supermarket staff are paid more, for a much less demanding role, it is easy to see why they are leaving the sector.

As well as the problems resulting from Brexit there is a general misunderstanding of what being a carer is, such as the technical nature of the role and the responsibilities it entails.

If staff were paid more and the role was valued in society, it might attract people who want to see it as a career rather than a stepping-stone to a different job. 

Instead, what we have is a low-paid, demoralised and much smaller workforce, unable and in some cases, unwilling, to provide the care that is so desperately needed.

This is what Yu faced. Every care agency she contacted told a similar story; that they’re short on carers and cannot take on any new cases or provide respite cover or offer regular care. 

The stress of finding appropriate care is overwhelming: “It keeps me awake at night. How am I supposed to live this life when I can’t afford to get the care I need? People don’t realise how hard it is to access decent care and the danger if you don’t receive any help.”

Spinal Injuries Association CEO Nik Hartley OBE said: “It’s a source of deep frustration and disappointment that the government still hasn’t responded to the MAC report on the impact of the ending of free movement on the care sector.

“Our engagement with MAC was crucial in shining a light on cases like that of Lynda Yu, ensuring MAC understood the critical importance to SCI people of being able to use skilled care workers, irrespective of their country of origin.

“We hope the MAC annual report helps to prompt the government to respond to the recommendations and report as a matter of priority.”

Ruth F Hunt is an author and freelance journalist.

The Spinal Injuries Association offer the hope, confidence, and practical skills to help people rebuild their lives and lead a fulfilled life. They can be found here: www.spinal.co.uk.

When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day and night, 365 days a year. You can call on 116 123 or email them at jo@samaritans.org.