Health

Care Homes Are Desperately Short Of Staff

Care homes are desperately short of staff – why no emergency UK visas for them?

As the government hastily arranges visas for truck drivers, its lack of regard for the care sector crisis is clear

Despite all the panic in government and at the petrol station forecourt, there is another urgent question: what about the care homes? The government is hastily attempting to give three-month visas to 5,000 foreign truck drivers to “save Christmas”. It is also allowing 5,000 visas for farm workers to gather in the winter harvest. But, in the face of widespread personnel shortages, the care home sector is to get no relief at all.

There are already 100,000 staff vacancies in the care homes sector, yet all the health ministry can say is that there will “always be enough staff with the right skills to deliver high quality care”. This is state-sponsored employment chaos.

The truck drivers’ visas are simply a cynical U-turn from ministers who promised to “stop immigration” and now find that some immigrants are more important than others. (Whether EU drivers will return to the UK so swiftly is another question altogether.) Labour markets are complex. Britain’s is being regulated by Whitehall officials with Leninist fantasies about the supply and demand for particular jobs, doling out visas on the basis of politics, not economics. Why truck drivers not carers? We can guess.

From the start of the coronavirus pandemic, it was clear that the government favoured the NHS over care homes (which it was less directly responsible for). An appalling price was paid as elderly people were allowed to go from the former to the latter, without any Covid testing, and died in their thousands. While care homes languished, desperate for money and help at the height of the pandemic, the government built the NHS seven Nightingale “field hospitals” at cost of £530m, only for them to be left sitting empty.

Now ministers are penalising social care even further. Care homes in England fear they will have to sack any staff not vaccinated against Covid by the early November deadline. NHS staff are excused, even in Covid wards. Although 93 per cent of care staff have been vaccinated, a hardcore still refuse, for reasons varying from pregnancy to cultural aversion.

The sackings would be catastrophic. While it is the young, not the old, who are now primarily at pandemic risk, the blanket ban is likely to mean that thousands of care staff – possibly as many as 70,000 – will have to be dismissed. Many will reportedly transfer to the NHS, in what looks suspiciously like a straightforward poaching. According to the Times, “sixteen local authorities could lose more than a tenth of their [care] staff”.

The government tells care employers to pay their workers higher wages to attract them within the UK. But this is a service industry that has spent decades relying on overseas carers. Brexit has already stifled the flow of workers from the EU, and there is no Treasury money to speedily replace them with more expensive, home-based staff.

The fault does not lie with Brexit as such, given the various ways the UK’s exit from the EU could have been negotiated: it lies with Boris Johnson’s personal decision at the same time to leave Europe’s single labour market. He has cut Britain off from decades of access to that sophisticated market, without so much as an inquiry into the cost. Other European nations can recruit from across the continent to relieve the strains of Covid. Britain has withdrawn behind a protectionist barrier. The Tory party under Margaret Thatcher used to believe in open markets. All we know of the present one is that it does not believe in carers.

Simon Jenkins is a columnist

Health

Yobe confirms 4 new polio cases

The Yobe Government has confirmed four new cases of polio in three Local Government Areas three years after the state was declared polio-free.

The Executive Secretary of the State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr Babagana Kundi-Machina, made this disclosure while launching a campaign against the disease in Machina, a border LGA with Niger Republic, on Saturday.

He said that the State Government, in collaboration with its partners, had launched a state-wide outbreak response and vaccination exercise to address the situation.

“It is unfortunate that after three years of being certified polio-free, we have recorded a circulating polio virus outbreak in Bursari, Machina, and Yusufari LGAs,” Kundi-Machina said.

The State Coordinator of the World Health Organisation, WHO, Dr Hamisu Alhassan, pledged the organisation’s support to the state toward curbing the outbreak.

He called on the public to adopt preventive measures, including personal and environmental hygiene, hand washing, and immunisation to boost immunity and promote good health, especially among women and children.

On his part, the Emir of Machina, Alhaji Bashir Machinama, urged his people to cooperate with the government by accepting the vaccine.

Machinama thanked the State Government for its prompt response and pledged to sensitise his community to take relevant steps to contain the disease.

Health

Cholera kills 11 in Ebonyi

A cholera outbreak in Ndibokote village, located in the Ezza Inyimagu area of Izzi Local Government, has claimed the lives of 10 people, including a nursing mother who leaves behind a nine-month-old baby.

The outbreak, confirmed by Ebonyi State Health Commissioner Dr. Moses Ekuma through a statement issued by ministry spokesperson Lucy Anyim, has affected approximately 20 others who are currently receiving treatment. Health officials are working diligently to contain the disease and prevent further spread in the community.

Dr. Ekuma noted that Governor Francis Nwifuru has approved the procurement of essential medical supplies to manage the crisis.

Additionally, three treatment centers have been established in the affected area, including Iziogo Health Centre, Sudan Mission Onuenyim, and a facility in Ndibokote village.

Open defecation and poor hygiene practices, along with reliance on stream water for drinking, are believed to be contributing factors to the outbreak.

Residents have been urged to follow precautionary measures to reduce the risk of further infections. Health authorities are on high alert to ensure the situation remains under control.

Health

Fubara approves employment of 2,000 Medical personnel

Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has approved the recruitment of 2,000 medical personnel and the payment of three years’ outstanding scholarship entitlements for medical students.

A press statement issued by Nelson Chukwudi, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, highlighted Fubara’s dedication to reversing the decline in academic standards in the state.

The Governor noted that in previous years, Rivers children were highly regarded for their academic excellence, a reputation that has since diminished due to the growing reward for mediocrity. Fubara vowed to restore this legacy.

Upon assuming office, Fubara said he was confronted with unpaid scholarship entitlements for medical students at the Rivers State University and that without hesitation, he authorized the release of funds, ensuring that students could continue their studies without frustration.

The Governor made these remarks during a courtesy visit by the accreditation panel of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), led by its Registrar, Dr. Fatima Kyari, at the Government House in Port Harcourt.

The delegation also included key officials from Rivers State University and the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Chidinma Oreh.

Fubara emphasized the importance of infrastructure and support for academic growth, aiming to restore Rivers State’s status as a hub for educational excellence.

He expressed his disappointment in the current societal trend of valuing cultism over intellectual achievement but reaffirmed his administration’s resolve to change this narrative.

During the meeting, Fubara also noted that 1,000 medical personnel would be employed through the Rivers State Health Management Board, while the remaining 1,000 would be engaged by the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH).

He reiterated his commitment to promoting quality medical training and explained that his administration understands the financial challenges associated with medical education.

Dr. Fatima Kyari, speaking on behalf of MDCN, lauded the state’s commitment to infrastructure and training, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a high standard of medical education. She encouraged the state to further develop research opportunities to compete on a global scale.

Prof. Nlerum Okogbule, Vice Chancellor of Rivers State University, expressed gratitude to Governor Fubara for his unprecedented support, stating that the university is now a top choice in Nigeria and that the College of Medical Sciences has significantly boosted its national and international reputation.