Care homes in Wales are on a \u201cwar footing\u201d because of desperate staff shortages caused by the skyrocketing Covid infection rate.<\/p>\n
According to Mario Kreft MBE, the chair of Care Forum Wales, 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.<\/p>\n
The situation is so bad that as a last resort homes were introducing \u201cfirebreaks\u201d to temporarily restrict visiting as the highly infectious Omicron variant tore across Wales.<\/p>\n
Domiciliary care companies were also struggling badly and were often unable to provide the usual level of care.<\/p>\n
Mr Kreft warned that the situation was only going to get worse before things got better.<\/p>\n
So much so, that some care homes were likely to be forced to declare an NHS-style \u201ccritical incident\u201d because they were unable to cope.<\/p>\n
But he feared reinforcements might not be available because statutory organisations like local health boards and councils were also short of staff.<\/p>\n
Mr Kreft said: \u201cThe scale of the challenge is one we have never faced before. It\u2019s really, really tough out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter two\u00a0 year of this, the pressures\u00a0 have been building up and now we\u2019re facing a completely different challenge because the Omicron strain of Covid is so prevalent and so transmissible.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, we\u2019re seeing problems we\u2019ve not encountered before.<\/p>\n
\u201cCare Forum Wales members have been reporting being down by up to 75 per cent in terms of staffing shifts. We\u2019re on a war footing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe social care workforce has been heroic right through this pandemic. It\u2019s taken a pandemic for people to realise how essential these workers are \u2013 just in the same way as the NHS and other services.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are rising to the challenge but it\u2019s incredibly difficult and it\u2019s probably going to get much worse before it gets better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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\u00a0 in health boards and local government.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trouble is that we all know they are suffering like everybody else at the moment so whether there would be people available to alleviate the crisis, I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we are talking about is making sure that people are as comfortable and as safe as they can be.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis also applies to our domiciliary care workers who are facing similar challenges, so the visits to people\u2019s homes may not be as long or as often as they might have been until we get through this.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody understands the importance of care home visiting better than those that run and work in care homes. It\u2019s essential to people\u2019s wellbeing and we\u2019ve had decades of open house visiting without any appointments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last two years\u00a0 have been incredibly challenging and I think people need to understand that safe visiting currently also requires a staffing input which makes it even more difficult if you are short of staff and don\u2019t have the capacity to ensure safe visiting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there have been any situations where people haven\u2019t been allowed to visit for people in very extreme circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what we\u2019ll see is firebreaks or temporary pauses in terms of visiting individual care homes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe responsibility is clearly with the registered manager and the organisation running each setting.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the registered providers have legal responsibilities towards their residents and they also have responsibility for the health and safety of their own staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what we\u2019ll see \u2013 and we\u2019re starting to see it already\u00a0 – is that visiting will be restricted for a period of days or a week or so because quite simply there will not be the staff to ensure safe visiting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other added complication is that care homes are now unable to secure insurance against Covid-related claims so they really cannot afford to take any risks.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as soon as we and ensure safe visiting again, we will revert to that. That\u2019s what people have been doing over Christmas and New Year. All I would ask from people is understanding because it is such a difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n