Harrogate care home bosses warn worsening staffing crisis is causing bed blocking for NHS

Sue Cawthray, chief executive of Harrogate Neighbours, described the current situation as "dire" and said she has "never known it as bad as this."

"The sector is desperately short of care staff," she said.

"At Harrogate Neighbours we can't increase our packages for home care and we are struggling to keep our care home above water, with staff having to work extra time to cover spare shifts."

Susie Harrison, manager at Highgate Park care home and chair of Harrogate and District Registered Managers Network, also said the staff shortages were the "underlying cause" of delays in discharging hospital patients into care homes.

She said: "Care homes can't take any more residents because they don't have the staff and this means people end up stuck in hospital - that is the reality of the situation."

Harrogate District Hospital has confirmed it currently has around 40 patients who no longer require hospital care but can't be discharged because they do not have a suitable location to continue their recovery.

This latest figure comes after the hospital recently warned it was "very full" and that this was having an impact on waiting times.

As well as the social care staffing shortages, Dr Matt Shepherd, deputy chief operating officer at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said Covid is also playing a "big part" in the bed blocking problems.

He said: "When care homes have had to close due to Covid-19 outbreaks, or the service they provide has been affected due to their staff being unable to work after catching the virus or having to self-isolate, we have been unable to discharge patients into their care.

“We know how being in a more familiar location can aid recovery and we are working closely with our partners in social care to ensure patients who no longer require hospital care are able to be discharged as soon as possible.”

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There are currently around 1,000 vacant care jobs across North Yorkshire and a recruitment campaign has been launched by North Yorkshire County Council to try address the shortfall.

Make Care Matter aims to change perceptions about working in the sector which has endured a major challenge to attract and retain staff long before the current crisis.

Since the campaign launched in January, 268 job applications have been progressed, with 197 interviews resulting in 91 job placements.

Senior officials at the county council have said this shows some progress has been made, although they added it will take more than a recruitment campaign to solve the staffing problems.

Richard Webb, corporate director for health and adult services at the county council, said government promises to reform how social care is funded and how much staff are paid will be the key.

He said: “We have seen a step-change in the care market since summer 2021, with very tough competition in the labour market, which is having a significant impact on care providers being able to recruit.

“The county council and the NHS have put additional funding into the sector to help sustain services, manage Covid-19 and, recently, to support the workforce, including a one-off pay bonus for 16,000 care workers."

"Whilst the council welcomes the government’s proposals for changing how much people pay for care, we also want to see national action to help stabilise care providers and to improve the pay and status of care workers.

“In the meantime, we work closely with our care providers and NHS colleagues to ensure that as many people can go home from hospital as soon as is safe and feasible to do so.”

By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter