Care homes say they are struggling to find staff following changes to the immigration system that will not be reviewed by the new Labour Government
Care homes are preparing for a looming staffing crisis following an 81 per cent plunge in visas issued to overseas workers, with some already forced to shut their doors.
The number of health and care worker visas granted fell from 121,290 to 89,095 in the year to June 2024 – a decline of more than a quarter, according to the Home Office.
Visas issued in the three months to June plunged 81 per cent compared with the same period last year – with an accompanying 66 per cent fall in visas issued for dependents.
Care homes warned that changes to the immigration system that took effect earlier this year were making it more difficult to recruit and could lead to more providers shutting their doors.
Since March, care workers have been barred from bringing their spouses and children with them to the UK – also known as dependents, which the sector said is putting people off from coming to the UK.
A senior Home Office source told i the Government would not be relaxing rules around health and care visas and would continue with tougher controls introduced by the Conservatives in their immigration crackdown.
“We’re not looking at it again, we’re continuing the restrictions,” they said.
Nadra Ahmed, chair of the National Care Association, a trade body, told i a fall in overseas staff was contributing to a staffing shortage that is affecting people who “desperately need care and support”. The sector has about 130,000 vacancies.
She said about 70,000 people who work in care homes were recruited internationally.
“They are making a huge contribution to our ability to have the capacity to deliver care,” she told i.
“It’s extremely worrying that we’ve got decreasing numbers of people who want to come to the UK to support our sector. The rules about dependents have had a huge impact as well.”
She added: “Social homes have already closed and they said it’s because they couldn’t get the workforce.”
Ms Ahmed said she was worried more homes would shut because of the visa changes, saying there are not enough Britons who want to work in the sector and meet the growing demand for care from an ageing population.
She said it is common for care home staff to be paid minimum wage because of limited funding from local authorities, which pay for social care using a combination of funding sources including central Government grants and council tax.
“We’d love to pay them more but local authorities’ funding is woefully inadequate,” she said.
Raj Sehgal, who runs ArmsCare, a group of five care homes with 148 beds around King’s Lynn, West Norfolk, said the visa changes have led to a noticeable decline in applicants from overseas.
“We don’t receive that many applications anymore from people overseas,” he said. “It’s primarily those that are looking to either switch jobs now, or those migrants that are not getting the hours that they need in in their current employment. Because they’re already in the UK, it’s a lot easier to switch jobs.”
About half of his staff are migrant workers. He said they “really struggled” to find staff until they started hiring from abroad. Many of his staff members have come from India and African countries.
In 2022 the Government relaxed visa restrictions affecting care workers, which made it easier for operators like Mr Sehgal to fill vacancies.
Without migrant workers, he said occupancy levels had plunged to only 67 per cent of beds, and are now at 93 per cent. “That was at a time when the hospitals were crying out to discharge people,” he said.
“We have job vacancies, as we do all the time in the care sector, as everybody does really, and we advertise them,” he said. “To be quite honest, we do not get a single local application come through.
“If we do get any domestic candidates, generally, they either don’t show for interview, don’t respond any further or, in the last three cases, they’ve lasted probably about 72 hours before going off sick.
