North Wales care homes fear dementia care crisis
Care homes in North Wales could be forced to turn away elderly people with dementia unless changes are made to visa rules for overseas workers, according to sector leaders.
Care Forum Wales has warned that tightening immigration policies are worsening staff shortages and putting services at risk of closure.
The organisation, which represents more than 400 care providers, says international recruitment has become essential to maintaining services, particularly in rural areas with ageing populations.
In its manifesto ahead of the Senedd election on 7 May, Care Forum Wales is calling on the next Welsh Government to follow the example of Scottish Government by taking on direct sponsorship of social care visas.
It says recent changes to visa rules, including restrictions on dependants and stricter recruitment requirements, have reduced applications and led some existing workers to consider leaving the sector.
Providers of domiciliary care are also reporting reduced capacity, raising concerns about the ability to support people in their own homes.
The warning comes amid wider pressures on health services, with staff shortages in social care linked to delayed hospital discharges and increased waiting times.
In Scotland, ministers have introduced funding to support displaced international care workers to remain in the sector, including financial help to relocate and secure new employment.
Care Forum Wales chair Mario Kreft said: “International care workers are not a ‘nice to have’ – they are the backbone of many services across Wales. Take them away and the system simply doesn’t function.
“To call care workers low skilled is frankly insulting. Try supporting someone with dementia at 3am or managing complex nursing needs with compassion and professionalism – that takes skill, compassion and heart.
“These are highly committed, highly trained people who stepped up during the pandemic when Wales needed them most. They deserve our respect and our support.
“They are doing a hugely important job keeping our most vulnerable people in a care home or their own homes when many of them would otherwise be in hospital, leading to even more pressure on the NHS.
“Restrictions on dependants and constant negative messages have created fear and uncertainty. Good people are now thinking twice about coming to Wales – or staying here.
“The next Welsh Government cannot shrug its shoulders and say immigration is nothing to do with us. If social care collapse, it will have a disastrous knock on effect on the NHS.
“Scotland has shown there is another way. Wales needs to follow their lead, take control of sponsorship and send a clear message that care workers are welcome here.
“When social care can’t recruit enough staff, hospital beds fill up. Operations get cancelled. Families are left in limbo.
“There are far too many people peddling the myth that anybody can work in a care home or provide domiciliary care. That’s just absurd because it is a highly skilled profession.
“The other fallacy is that overseas workers are a cheap option when the complete is the case.
“It costs much more to recruit international staff than it does to employ local people. The truth of the matter is that not enough local people are willing to work in social care.
“If we don’t grasp the nettle, the unintended consequences are potentially horrendous.
“If care homes and domiciliary care companies don’t have enough staff, they will either have to reduce the number of people for whom they provide care or shut down completely.
“Things are bad enough now but even more people won’t be able to get into hospital when they need to and down the line it’s something that could cost lives.
“This isn’t just a social care issue – it’s a national crisis.
“We are already seeing providers really struggling financially. Without urgent action from the new Welsh Government, ministers risk presiding over avoidable closures and more bed blocking in Welsh hospitals.”
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