Care homes in Wales could be forced to turn away elderly people with dementia unless ministers act to \u201cfix the visa\u201d for overseas staff.<\/p>\n
In a stark warning ahead of the May 7 Senedd election, Care Forum Wales (CFW) says tightening immigration rules and the closure of visa routes are choking off a vital lifeline for the sector.<\/p>\n
According to CFW, which represents more than 400 private and third sector care providers, the crisis is deepening because Wales has an ageing population and a shrinking working-age workforce.<\/p>\n
The organisation\u2019s election manifesto points out that international recruitment is no longer optional but essential to keep services running, particularly in rural communities.<\/p>\n
Domiciliary care companies are also being badly hit with fears that providers lack capacity to look after people in their own homes.<\/p>\n
In the manifesto CFW is urging the next Welsh Government to follow Scotland\u2019s lead and take on direct sponsorship of social care visas, creating a stable and ethical route for overseas workers.<\/p>\n
Visa applications were already being driven down by negative rhetoric from Westminster, restrictions on dependants and tougher recruitment conditions.<\/p>\n
It was also pushing existing overseas workers to consider leaving, exacerbating a chronic workforce shortage that is fuelling delayed hospital discharges and longer NHS waiting times.<\/p>\n
But the Scottish Government has stepped in to sponsor overseas care workers left high and dry and facing deportation.<\/p>\n
They are providing \u00a3500,000 to support international social care workers already in the UK displaced by visa changes to settle and work Scotland.<\/p>\n
The funding is used to meet the costs associated with moving and to and working in Scotland\u2019s social care sector, for those who have found themselves without sponsored employment elsewhere in the UK.<\/p>\n
CFW chair Mario Kreft MBE rejected claims that care work is \u201clow skilled\u201d, describing overseas staff as highly trained, values-driven professionals who had stepped up during the pandemic and were now a cornerstone of the sector\u2019s frontline.<\/p>\n
Mr Kreft said employers had invested heavily in international recruitment\u00a0 and are required to pay them more than the Real Living Wage paid to domestic staff, contrary to the belief that they were cheap labour.<\/p>\n
The real risk, warned Mr Kreft, was that without a sustainable visa pathway, more homes would be forced to reduce their services or even close , piling even more pressure on the beleaguered NHS.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cInternational care workers are not a \u2018nice to have\u2019 \u2013 they are the backbone of many services across Wales. Take them away and the system simply doesn\u2019t function.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo call care workers low skilled is frankly insulting. Try supporting someone with dementia at 3am or managing complex nursing needs with compassion and professionalism \u2013 that takes skill, compassion and heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are highly committed, highly trained people who stepped up during the pandemic when Wales needed them most. They deserve our respect and our support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey 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\u00a0 be in hospital, leading to even more pressure on the NHS.<\/p>\n
\u201cRestrictions on dependants and constant negative messages have created fear and uncertainty. Good people are now thinking twice about coming to Wales \u2013 or staying here.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cScotland 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen social care can\u2019t recruit enough staff, hospital beds fill up. Operations get cancelled. Families are left in limbo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are far too many people peddling the myth that anybody can work in a care home or provide domiciliary care. That\u2019s just absurd because it is a highly skilled profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other fallacy is that overseas workers are a cheap option when the complete is the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t grasp the nettle, the unintended consequences are potentially horrendous.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf care homes and domiciliary care companies don\u2019t have enough staff, they will either have to reduce the number of people for whom they provide care or shut down completely.<\/p>\n
\u201cThings are bad enough now but even more people won\u2019t be able to get into hospital when they need to and down the line it\u2019s something that could cost lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t just a social care issue \u2013 it\u2019s a national crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n