Statement On Staffing Plans By Local Authorities

23 December 2021

The chief executive of the country’s largest charitable care provider has called for local authorities to outline their plans for supporting care homes if Covid cases increase further. It is possible that not enough staff will be available due to positive tests for Covid or having to self isolate. 

Sam Monaghan, Chief Executive of MHA which runs 89 care homes and 43 housing with care schemes, said: “We already have a staffing crisis within social care and the ever-increasing number of cases of Covid-19 are putting even more strain on the sector. 

“We are concerned that with cases rising, more of our staff will have to either self-isolate because of close contact with a positive case or test positive themselves. While we have contingencies in place and colleagues are great at covering shifts, we have to be assured that if the worst happens and we don’t have enough people to care for our residents safely, that there are plans in place to support us.”

MHA has already had to close a number of its homes to new residents due to a lack of available staff to run them safely and some of its housing with care schemes are unable to implement new care packages for residents.  

Sam added: “We have been in contact with our local authority partners, asking them to provide us with assurances that we will be supported if the unthinkable happens and we cannot provide care to our residents safely.

“In Spring 2020 our staff were magnificent and rose to the challenge of a pandemic, covering additional shifts and working in other MHA homes. However, we are now in different times. Staff are tired and, while we know they will rally to help, there are fewer of them due to the increasing shortage of care workers which will have an impact.”