OHAC issues rallying call over home care staffing shortage

Orkney Health and Care has issued a rallying call to relatives of the Care at Home Service users, appealing for their help to keep some of Orkney’s most vulnerable folk safe over the festive period.

There is a national shortage of care workers and agency staff who have been bolstering the local teams are heading home for Christmas and New Year and now, additional precautions regarding the new COVID-19 variant Omicron are likely to impact on Home Care staffing levels further.

Letters are being sent to service users today, Friday, warning them of a reduction in care packages available between December 20 and January 10, in particular.

Orkney Health and Care chief officer/executive director Stephen Brown said they have been investigating all avenues and will continue to do so daily, but it has reached the point whereby they have no choice but to ask family of service users to step into the breach in the short-term. By doing this, it is recognised that additional expenses may be incurred, such as travel or childcare, so there will be a monetary payment available to cover these costs.

He said: “We are in the profession because we want to care for some of the most vulnerable folk in society, among them are users of our Home Care service. Our teams allow people to stay home independently and safely whenever that is possible. That is what the majority of people in the county tell us they want, and we try our very best to deliver on that. For the absolute most part our fantastic caring teams make sure this happens, and I am proud of that.

“But we have reached the point whereby, for the next few weeks, we can no longer guarantee that we will be able to fulfil the home care packages that are currently in place given the factors already mentioned – the national shortage of staff; the fact the agency workers who have been assisting our teams are returning to their families for the festivities and now the added challenges being posed by the new COVID-19 variant and the Public Health and Scottish Government requirements for isolating etc.

“It is with deep regret that we are having to issue this rallying call, but I have witnessed the generosity and willingness of folk in Orkney to help in times of need. We are only asking this now because we have exhausted all other options at present. This is not a position I wanted to find myself in, but the extenuating circumstances outwith all our control has left us no alternative.

“The last thing we want is to cause any fear and alarm among our service users and I want to try and reassure folk that we will continue to work on a daily basis to try and find additional staff willing to assist in the short-term. With this in mind we are also appealing to those who have recently left social care employment in the council to consider returning in the short-term. We have also been working alongside the Third Sector to see if there may be volunteers who could help with care that does not require the personal care element – so, for example, assisting with meal preparation.

“There is good news on the horizon, however, our ongoing Home Care recruitment campaign has been a great success and we have ten new folk due to start in Home Care in the New Year – this will help out enormously and we are very thankful that people have answered our call to join up – we are still hopeful of attracting some more but, in the meantime, this is fantastic news. We now hope now that this next ask will also be answered. Please get in touch if you are a family member of a service user who can help.”

Home Care co-ordinators will be in contact with all service users over the next few days to advise of the care that can be provided.