Welsh care homes on “war footing” because of Covid crisis
The Chair of Care Forum Wales speaks out as the care sector- and the NHS in Wales are hit by crippling staff shortages due to the pandemic
Care homes in Wales have told us they are on a “war footing” because of desperate staff shortages caused by rising Covid infection rates.
The chair of Care Forum Wales has warned the sector is facing its worst ever crisis with reports that 75 per cent of staff were off work in some homes, either because they had contracted Coronavirus or they were self-isolating.
Mario Kreft MBE said the situation is so bad that as a last resort homes were introducing “firebreaks” to temporarily restrict visiting.
Domiciliary care companies were also struggling badly and were often unable to provide the usual level of care.
Mr Kreft said some care homes were likely to be forced to declare an NHS-style “critical incident” because they were unable to cope.
But he feared reinforcements might not be available because statutory organisations like local health boards and councils were also short of staff.
“War footing”
Mr Kreft said:
“The scale of the challenge is one we have never faced before. It’s really, really tough out there.
“The First Minister reminded us in 2020 that the social care sector was in a fragile state before the pandemic because of its precarious finances and the shortage of staff.
“After two years of this, the pressures have been building up and now we’re facing a completely different challenge because the Omicron strain of Covid is so prevalent and so transmissible.
“As a result, we’re seeing problems we’ve not encountered before.
“Care Forum Wales members have been reporting being down by up to 75 per cent in terms of staffing shifts. We’re on a war footing.”
Heroic
“The social care workforce has been heroic right through this pandemic. It’s taken a pandemic for people to realise how essential these workers are – just in the same way as the NHS and other services.
“They are rising to the challenge but it’s incredibly difficult and it’s probably going to get much worse before it gets better.
“It’s quite possible that some care homes will have to call on the statutory services. There are plans in place and we have been working with Welsh Government and our colleagues in health boards and local government.
“We may have to declare what the NHS would call a critical incident and in that case the only place you can go is the statutory agencies.”
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