Immigration Survey Findings – May 2025

Scottish Care publishes Immigration Survey Findings

A recent survey by Scottish Care has revealed the critical reliance of Scotland’s social care sector on international workers and paints a stark picture of the potential consequences if their recruitment were to cease.

Conducted between May 15th and 19th, 2025, the survey gathered insights from 225 social care organisations across Scotland, representing services including care homes, care at home, and housing support. These organisations collectively provide support to over 46,000 individuals and employ more than 43,000 staff.

The findings demonstrate the significant role international workers play:

  • Participating organisations employ at least 11,294 international staff.
  • International staff making up an average of 32% of responding organisations’  workforce.
  • 7% of organisations report that international workers represent over 90% of their staff, and a further 14% rely on them for over 75% of their workforce.
  • A significant proportion – nearly 7,000 international workers in these organisations – are currently working on a visa.

When asked about the anticipated impact of ending international recruitment, the responses were overwhelmingly negative. Providers repeatedly highlighted the severe challenge of recruiting local staff, with many stating they struggle to find Scottish or British nationals willing to work in care. This makes international recruitment essential for filling vacancies.

The predicted consequences are wide-ranging and severe:

  • Staffing Crisis: Without international workers, providers expect significant shortages, making it difficult, if not impossible, to maintain safe staffing levels.
  • Financial Strain: A heavy reliance on expensive agency staff to cover shifts is predicted, threatening the financial viability of services and potentially leading to closures. Some providers warned their service could close “within a matter of months”.
  • Impact on Care Quality: Concerns were raised that staffing pressures would compromise the quality and continuity of care provided to vulnerable individuals. International workers were praised for their reliability, work ethic, and respectful approach.
  • Rural Challenges: Services in remote areas are expected to face particular difficulties in finding alternative staff.
  • Systemic Crisis: The domestic workforce is widely seen as insufficient to meet current demand, meaning restricting international recruitment would push the entire sector deeper into crisis.

Overall, the survey findings present a clear message: the Scottish social care sector is significantly dependent on international workers. Ending their recruitment would not only create immediate staffing and financial challenges but could also fundamentally threaten the ability to provide essential care services across Scotland.

A full survey results briefing is available here.

Arlene Bunton announced as Finalist in Leading Women in Care Awards!

We are thrilled to share that Arlene Bunton, our Independent Sector Lead for East Ayrshire, has been named a finalist in the “Leader of the Future” category at the prestigious Leading Women in Care Awards 2025!

This recognition highlights Arlene’s dedication, innovation, and leadership in driving positive change within the social care sector!

We are also proud to recognise several Scottish Care members on the shortlist – an exceptional achievement that truly showcases the amazing female leadership within social care in Scotland. Good luck to you all!

Voting is now open and will close at midnight on Friday 28 February. Let’s show our support and celebrate the incredible leadership within our sector!

Cast your vote here: Leading Women in Care Awards Voting

Deadline Extension: Care at Home & Housing Support Awards 2025

Deadline Extension: Care at Home & Housing Support Awards 2025 – Enter by 10 March!

We are delighted to announce that the Care at Home & Housing Support Awards 2025 entry deadline has been extended to Monday 10 March 2025, at 9:00 am.

With our annual Care at Home & Housing Support Conference and Awards taking place on Friday 16 May 2025, at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow, this is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the dedication, innovation, and excellence across the sector.

At a time when the role of social care is more critical than ever, these awards provide a platform to honour outstanding individuals, teams, and services who make a difference every day.

Don’t miss this final chance to recognise and celebrate excellence in homecare – submit your nominations today!

Submit your entry here: https://scottishcare.org/care-at-home-and-housing-support-awards-2025/

Final Deadline: Monday 10 March 2025, at 9:00 am

We look forward to celebrating the achievements of those who make social care exceptional. Get your entries in before the final deadline!

Menopause Matters Webinar – 6 February

Scottish Care & alsico – Menopause Matters Webinar 

Exploring Menopause Support in Care Homes (6 February)
1 in 5 care workers say menopause symptoms affect their job performance, and 1 in 10 consider leaving their jobs because of it.

To address this critical issue, Scottish Care is hosting a webinar in collaboration with leading uniform supplier alsico. Building on the success of alsico’s Menopause Matters event at the Care Show last year (learn more here), which brought together some of the UK’s largest care providers—this webinar will focus on practical ways to support staff navigating menopause.

Date: Thursday 6 February
Time: 2pm – 3pm
Location: Teams Webinar

Speakers include:

  • Caroline Deane – Scottish Care
  • Sara Catanzaro – Alsico
  • Flora Neville – Citation
  • Pauline Ritchie – Oakminster Healthcare
  • Alyson Vale – Abbotsford Care
  • Rachel Payne – Bandrum Nursing Home

Topics will cover:

  • Misconceptions about menopause and how to address them
  • The importance of uniform considerations in care homes
  • Exploring practical menopause policies
  • Insights from care home providers implementing menopause-friendly practices

This webinar will share resources, explore ideas, and foster collaboration within Scotland’s care sector to create more supportive workplaces.

Register here

Join us to continue the vital work of improving menopause awareness and support for care workers across Scotland.

Moving from Talk to Action on Bereavement – Online Event (23 January 2024)

 The Bereavement Charter Group and Good Life, Good Death, Good Grief  is organising an online event on ‘Moving from Talk to Action on Bereavement: Improving Signposting’.

Date: Tuesday 23 January 2024
Time: 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Location: Online via Zoom

This will be first in a series of events to discuss how we in the bereavement sector in Scotland can work together to achieve positive change.

The event is for anyone who feels they can play a role in improving signposting to available bereavement support in Scotland.

Find out more about the event and sign up on: Moving from Talk to Action on Bereavement: Improving Signposting Tickets, Tue 23 Jan 2024 at 14:00 | Eventbrite

Digital Health & Care Leadership Programme – Open for Aug 2023

Applications are now open for Cohort 21 of the Digital Health and Care Leadership Programme (DLP).  This programme will start in August 2023 and is designed for anyone who is:

  • Interested in digital health and care
  • Keen to explore how technology can benefit people
  • Would like to develop their leadership skills
  • In a position to make a change in their organisation (e.g. leading a team, service or digital transformation project)

As part of the programme, participants will progress a digital improvement project within their organisation.  There will be an opportunity to develop their project idea in the early stages of the programme. You can find projects from past participants on our DLP site. Potential projects ideas could include:

  • Introducing a digital referral method
  • Introducing remote health monitoring for patients/service users
  •  Harnessing service user data (e.g., creating dashboards) in a way which allows improvements to services to be made
  • Leading on a system roll out in your organisation
  • Adoption of an M365 app in your service
  • Evaluation of a digital service which has been introduced into your organisation
  • Roll out of technology enabled care devices or service
  • Adoption of a decision support tool
  • Utilising prescribing data to improve patient care
  • Introducing and evaluating Near Me remote consultations / Near Me group consultations for patients/service users to improve access to services
  • Introducing, improving or evaluating digital technology to share targeted and specific treatment/intervention based information with people using services

Applications are welcome from employees NHS Scotland, social care, housing and the third sector.  Multidisciplinary team applications from those who wish to work collaboratively on a project are also welcome. More information about the programme, including application guidance can be found on the DLP site.  Any queries should be directed to [email protected]  and you can also follow the programme on Twitter at @nes_dlp.

DLP Cohort 21

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Care Inspectorate Webinar – 23 March 2023

We are delighted to welcome colleagues from the Care Inspectorate to our next webinar on Thursday 23 March 2023 at 2:00 pm. Mike Andrews,  Service Manager and George McMillian, Team Manager from the Care Inspectorate will be hosting this session.

The Care Inspectorate will discuss using the Quality Frameworks including Key Questions and Quality Indicators for Inspections in 2023/24.  They will further discuss what to expect at an inspection and there will be an opportunity to ask questions.

This session will help you be aware of focus for inspections next year.

Please note that this webinar is on Microsoft Teams instead of Zoom. Registration is required, you will be sent an email invite a day before the session.

Please use the registration form below:

Care Inspectorate Webinar - 23 March 2023