Omicron wave: workforce shortages

The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has had a drastic impact on the ability of services to continue to operate due to very high rates of staff sickness. A survey of members of the National Care Forum (the largest body representing not-for-profit care providers) released on the 13th January 2022 found that 66% of homecare providers responding are having to refuse new requests for home care, 43% of providers of care homes are closing to new admissions and 21% of home care providers are handing back existing care packages as they are unable to fulfil them. The providers reported an 18% vacancy rate and 14% absences as a result of Omicron.

Also on the 13th January 2022, the Association of Directors of Adult Services reported that 49 out of 94 councils that answered a questionnaire reported taking measures to prioritise care to support the most basic tasks only (eating, drinking and going to the toilet, but not help with tasks such as getting out of bed) and having to leave people with learning disabilities, dementia or mental illness alone for longer than usual. A survey of members of the National Care Forum (the largest body representing not-for-profit care providers) found that 66% of homecare providers responding are having to refuse new requests for home care, 43% of providers of care homes are closing to new admissions and 21% of home care providers are handing back existing care packages as they are unable to fulfil them.

Previous waves of the pandemic:

In the initial part of the pandemic carers reported delays in health treatment for the person they care for (57%) and for themselves (38%). More than half of carers (65%) in a Carers UK survey carried out in September 2020 reported to have postponed attending health care services for their own health needs. Reduced access to health care and social services for the person they support was also reported by carers of people with dementia (90% of 795 respondents)(Source: Alzheimers.org).

Many community–based care services, such as day care, were interrupted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Guidance on safe delivery of day care has been published by the Social Care Excellence Institute on the July 10, 2020.

It is likely that there have been reductions in the use of domiciliary care services, such as home care, as a result of people fearing contagion through contact with staff, and as a result of staff shortages due to their own need to self-isolate or shield. Lack of access to PPE and testing for home care providers may have exacerbated this problem. There is no data yet on the extent to which services have been reduced or the degree to which this has affected the people who rely on those services and their family and other unpaid carers, although a national survey by the Association of Directors of Adult Services reported substantial increases in social care need arising from the unavailability of services, hospital discharge, carer breakdown, and concerns about abuse and safeguarding.

Impact on access to health care for people with dementia

In the earlier part of the pandemic there were reports of people living with dementia who had COVID being refused hospital treatment based on their dementia diagnosis and not their ability to benefit from treatment, and of people with dementia living in care homes being pressured into signing “Do Not Attempt Ressusciation” (DNAR), prompting the Alzheimer’s Society and 4 leading charities to send an open letter to the health secretary (Suarez-Gonzalez et al., 2020).

Impact on access to health and social care services for adults with intellectual disabilities

UK-wide interviews with approximately 500 adults with intellectual disabilities and surveys with approximately 300 family carers and support workers of adults with intellectual disabilities who could not take part in an interview, at three time points during the pandemic, have reported that access to a wide range of health services (including primary care, more specialist therapists, and annual health checks) significantly reduced from before the pandemic to the lockdown in the winter of 2020. Access has improved since then up to the summer of 2021, but not to pre-pandemic levels, with more consultations being conducted by phone rather than face to face.

The picture is similar concerning access to a wide range of social care services, including day services, community activities and short breaks, with the exception of support at home which has continued at consistent levels through the COVID-19 pandemic. Reduced access to many health and social care services was evident for a greater proportion of adults with intellectual disabilities with greater needs, particularly adults with profound and multiple intellectual disabilities (Flynn et al., 2021).

In England, national statistics on local-authority funded social care reported that 1,500 fewer adults with learning disabilities were receiving long-term social care at the end of March 2021 compared to the end of March 2020, reversing a long-term trend of increasing numbers of adults with learning disabilities receiving long-term social care.

References:

Suarez-Gonzalez A., Livingston G., Comas-Herrera A. (2020) Report: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people living with dementia in UK, 3rd May 2020. https://ltccovid.org/2020/05/03/report-the-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-people-living-with-dementia-in-uk/