A shortage of 100,000 carers nationally is estimated The social care recruitment crisis is having a knock-on effect on getting patients out of hospital, according to a health expert.
There is an estimated shortage of around 100,000 carers across the county, and government ministers recently launched a campaign to encourage people to work in the care sector.
A 103-page White Paper has been published by government, including a ten-year vision for adult social care detailing how £5.4billion will be spent. It includes details of social care reform, how more than £1billion will be spent helping people to live safely and independently where they want to, and further investment to use technology to help those who need care and caregivers.
The improvements will be funded through the 1.25% Health & Social Care levy, meaning bills will go up. And right now, pressures are being felt locally.
Professor Ian Hall, director of the Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, which comes under the same Trust that runs services at the Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital, thinks the care worker shortage is having a knock-on effect on hospitals.
He said: "The NHS itself is under severe pressure, and there is a difficulty of discharging patients into the community because there is not the capacity to provide the level of social care support that's required. Promoted Stories "In terms of the knock-on effect on the NHS, that's true for the provision of care at home, and true for patients being discharged to a residential or nursing home.
"In a hospital setting, there's so much going on in terms of managing Covid, having a very busy emergency department and trying to make sure patients get home to a safe environment.
"There's no immediate solution and we need more staff and more beds across the whole of the NHS and the country." Rachel Squire, home manager of Church Farm at Skylarks in West Bridgford, thinks recruitment is low because of opinions over what working in a care home is like.
She said: "The number of people applying is really low - we didn't struggle to recruit during the pandemic as people wanted to help, but since everything reopened, that's changed. "I think there's a fear from some people, who may have heard horror stories about care homes being badly affected by Covid which creates a concern around coming to work. "New jobs have been created elsewhere with the reopening, and they probably pay more than the care sector is currently able to. "While we ourselves are a living wage employer, it doesn't match the rates that people can get at other places. "But for me, social care is the most rewarding thing you will ever do - if you're not sure about what job you want or what career path you want to take, give it a go."