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Care home sector warns of intolerable nursing shortages, with 31% of posts vacant

Today (9 November 2017), Scottish Care has published a new report on the picture of nursing in the independent social care sector.

The report, entitled Independent Sector Nursing Data 2017, depicts both the highlights and challenges of nursing in care homes in Scotland and illustrates the nurse recruitment and retention crisis currently being faced.

Speaking ahead of the report’s launch, Dr Donald Macaskill, Chief Executive of Scottish Care, said nearly a third of nursing posts are currently vacant, forcing care home operators to increasingly rely on agencies to fill their nursing rotas at an average cost of £434-per-shift although some agencies can charge up to £1000-per-shift.

“Last year we reported that we were facing significant challenge in relation to the shortage of nurses working in our care homes.  Despite strenuous efforts matters have got even worse in 2017 and we are now at the stage of many care homes being placed at real risk in terms of their survival. Paying exorbitant agency fees to plug a continuing gap is wholly unsustainable. Urgent short-term measures are needed, and require us to work with Scottish Government and other partners, to find solutions to this challenge.”

The biggest problem identified in the report is an insufficient supply of nurses.

Dr Macaskill said: “This raises questions about whether current student nurse intake levels are sufficient.”

He added: “The report also found that there has been a huge increase in turnover – standing at 46% in the last year compared to 29% the year before. Coupled with the already negative impacts of Brexit there are growing pressures on our abilities to staff nursing posts now and into the future. Unless we are to be faced with more and more people stuck in hospital we need to seriously invest in nursing provision in Scotland’s care home sector.”

Dr Macaskill continued:

“We’re facing an immediate challenge in relation to the shortage of nurses working in our care homes.  Whilst the general shortage of nurses is a serious issue, we also need to look at why many people, nurses and other professions, are not choosing to work in care homes.  We need to attract more people to work in the social care sector and articulate the many benefits of doing so.  These measures require us to work with Scottish Government and other partners, including colleges, universities and health and social care partnerships to urgently address these issues.

“We need to work with a range of people and organisations to make social care an attractive career path, and also to make sure people understand what brilliant places care homes can be to live and work in.  We need to stop talking down care homes and start celebrating them.”

 

ENDS

 

Notes to Editors:

Independent Sector Nursing Data 2017 is based on survey data from 91 care organisations, representing 317 individual services and approximately 2,400 nurses from the sector.  It provides some headline facts and figures about the sector in relation to the recruitment and retention of nurses.

  • A 44% increase in number of nurses registered with nurse agencies in 2014-2016
  • 64% of nurses in care homes are over the age of 45
  • Average vacancy levels across sector 31% (28% in 2016)
  • 91% of providers are finding it hard to fill nursing posts compared to 68% in 2015.
  • 54% of providers think it is harder this year than last year
  • Turnover of nursing staff is now 43% compared to 29% in 2016.
  • Average cost of agency nurse for a shift is £434 (in 2016 was £343)
  • 46% of providers have increased their use of agency staff in the last three months

Scottish Care is a membership organisation and the representative body for independent social care services in Scotland.

Scottish Care represents over 400 organisations, which totals almost 1000 individual services, delivering residential care, nursing care, day care, care at home and housing support services.

Our membership covers both private and voluntary sector provider organisations.  It includes organisations of varying types and sizes, amongst them single providers, small and medium sized groups, national providers and not-for-profit voluntary organisations and associations.

Our members deliver a wide range of registered services for older people as well as those with long term conditions, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, dementia or mental health problems.

The Scottish independent social care sector contributes to:

  • The employment of approximately 100,000 people
  • The employment of 5,000 nurses
  • The provision of 89% of care home places in Scotland
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To Absent Friends Festival 1-7 November 2017

People who have died remain a part of our lives – their stories are our stories, yet many Scottish traditions relating to the expression of loss and remembrance have faded over time.

To Absent Friends gives people across Scotland an excuse to remember, to tell stories, to celebrate and to reminisce about people we love who have died. To Absent Friends, a People’s Festival of Storytelling and Remembrance is an opportunity to revive lost traditions and create new ones.

The annual To Absent Friends festival will take place across Scotland from 1-7 November 2017.

More details can be found at https://www.toabsentfriends.org.uk/content/festival/

 

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Media Statement: Joint AEA and Scottish Care conference on adult protection and human rights

Over 125 delegates from across Scotland will gather in Glasgow today (Friday 27th) to take part in a conference entitled: ‘Choice, Empowerment, Protection… Can we Achieve them all?’ A human rights-based approach to supporting, empowering and protecting older people.’

The event is being held by Action on Elder Abuse Scotland in association with Scottish Care and brings together individuals from statutory, third and independent sectors.

Speaking ahead of the event, Dr Donald Macaskill, CEO of Scottish Care said:

‘Scotland is fortunate in having human-rights based legislation which seeks to support and protect some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

Regrettably incidents of harm and abuse still take place and it is critically important that those who work and support older Scots have an opportunity to come together to ensure our protection can be even stronger and better. Scottish Care is therefore delighted to support and be involved in this event.

Adult protection and support covers the whole range of our lives. The way we allocate funds and spend our money – or choose not to – on health and social care is a human rights issue. For too many individuals today financial austerity and decisions are placing them at greater risk. That’s the case whether it is as a result of the critical shortage of specialist adult protection staff in our local authorities or the stripping out of funding to train homecare or care home staff. Both have the effect of increasing risk and a potential of resulting in actual harm.

We have great legislation and it would be an immense pity that a failure to resource protection increases the risk of harm.

The event today offers a real opportunity for different agencies to come together and put human rights and dignity at the heart of the way in which Scotland seeks to protect and support its citizens.”

Ends

Description of event:

‘At the heart of Scotland’s unique adult support and protection framework is a commitment to upholding the human rights of those it is intended to support. It’s main aims are to identify, support and protect adults at risk of harm.

Yet, many practitioners struggle with the tensions between individual autonomy and ‘state’ protection. Is it possible to support and protect adults at risk of harm, while ensuring choice and empowerment for the individual?

Two of Scotland’s leading representative organisations invite you to join our engaging conference to contribute to the debate, share experiences, and find out about national and local developments in this area.’

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Share your thoughts with Scotland’s Human Rights Commission

The Scottish Human Rights Commission would like to hear from people across Scotland about their experiences when it comes to human rights. They have complied a short survey to get the views of as many people as possible.

Could you please help them by  sharing this short survey with people in your networks?

They are particularly keen to hear from people whose voices are often under-represented in policy and decision making.

Responses to the survey are anonymous and confidential. The information received will help shape the next phase of Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights.

 

 

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Home Care Day: Untapped Potential of SDS

On 3 August 2017, Scottish Care launched two new reports on the Scottish Government’s flagship Self-directed Support legislation.

The reports have been produced by Scottish Care, the representative body for independent care services, and highlight the opportunities that Self-directed Support can offer older people in deciding their care but which are not being utilised.

Self-directed Support became law in 2014 and signalled radical change in how care should be assessed, chosen and purchased in Scotland, giving far more choice and control to the individual at the centre of that care.  However, recent reports have shown that this transformation has not occurred in most parts of Scotland and that older people in particular are being let down by this lack of progress.  Scottish Government statistics released in June 2017 indicated that only 27 per cent of people who access social care have been given the option of how their support is delivered through SDS. When further analysed this equates to an even smaller percentage of older persons of whom 86% are opting for the status quo, likely because they are not informed properly of their options.

The first of these new reports highlights the importance of a human rights-based approach to Self-directed Support for Older People and how human rights models can overcome the many challenges currently being faced in implementing it.  It stresses the importance of individuals being fully informed and therefore able to claim their rights in relation to their care provision.

The second report is focused on how Self-directed Support can improve day care provision for older people.  It emphasises the need for the Scottish Government to put pressure on Health & Social Care Partnerships to release their hold on power around care provision and transfer this to individuals and families, as the law requires.

Both reports reach similar conclusions: that improvements are both possible and required but that the pace of change is slow, and that the majority of older people are still being offered a very limited choice or none at all when it comes to support for anything other than basic personal care.

CEO of Scottish Care, Dr Donald Macaskill said:

“These important reports emphasise that Self-directed Support can make a real difference to people’s lives if implemented properly, but that this opportunity is currently going to waste through the prevailing of inflexible systems and power remaining in the hands of professionals rather than people.  In order to make Self-directed Support work, there needs to be concentrated attention given to it by Scottish Government. This includes the need for effective monitoring, adequate resourcing and collaborative working. We cannot continue, at national and local government level, to ignore the human rights of older Scots.”

A Human Rights Based Approach to SDS for Older People

 

Care Cameo - Meaningful Days
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Home Care Day: From home care to anywhere

From home care to anywhere - Karen Hedge shares her day looking at SDS in a home care context

I spent this afternoon at Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights meeting on Health and Social Care, where representatives from Audit Scotland who produced the report into Self-directed Support came along to present their findings.

It was a really really good meeting; we all left with a to-do list of connections to make, ways to contribute to the recommendations made in the report, and examples of innovative practice to share. But, I can’t help feeling it was a meeting of the converted.

Whilst the report discusses various barriers and their solutions, it seems that one of the biggest barriers to SDS is buy-in.  Where it works, is where there is a committed person or persons driving and promoting it - Audit Scotland describe pockets of good practice across the country.

Almost all access to home care can be categorised into one of the four SDS Options, but often people are not even aware that they are accessing Self-directed Support. And if they were, I question whether they would be satisfied with the category into which they had been placed.  This completely undermines the Human Rights based ethos of the Act.

Whilst Scottish Care will continue to promote good practice via the work of our Partners for Integration and Improvement project, this is not enough.  There needs to be a national strategy to engage and hold accountable the Integrated Boards who should be promoting a fundamental right.  We know that access to outcomes-based care is key to the preventative agenda, and what better way to make sure you get that right, but to actively engage the experts - the supported people, in the way that their care will be delivered.

As part of #Homecare17 I responded to a Tweet from a carer questioning the relevance of the term 'home care', when actually it should mean ‘from home care to anywhere’.  To think outside the box, get out of your home (if you want to) engage with your community or further, go to work, this is the home care of the future, and SDS can take us there. We know it is because in some places it’s already happening.

Shout it from the rooftops: “Self-directed Support - our choice is our right”.

Karen Hedge

National Director, Scottish Care

@hegeit

#homecare17

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Home Care Day: Access Supporting Solace resources

As part of Palliative and End of Life care hour of Home Care Day 2017, we encourage you to access Scottish Care's range of palliative and end of life care resources which have been developed through collaboration and research with front line care workers.  

These resources highlight the skills, professionalism and compassion shown by home care workers in delivering dignified care at the end of people's lives.

 

Access Supporting Solace resources

#homecare17