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NHS faces beds crisis as care homes stop taking patients from hospitals

care homes

NHS faces beds crisis as care homes stop taking patients from hospitals

The NHS faces a mounting beds crisis as care homes suffering unprecedented staff shortages are forced to stop taking patients from hospitals, health and care leaders have warned.

Ministers are desperately trying to free up space in the NHS to tackle a backlog of 5.6 million people – equivalent to almost 10% of people in England – awaiting treatment.

But efforts to speed up the discharge of hospital patients into the community are being hampered by care worker shortages. Britain’s largest not-for-profit care home provider, MHA, has already had to close one in 10 of its homes to admissions from hospitals, its chief executive, Sam Monaghan, told the Guardian.

The warning comes as a comprehensive assessment on Wednesday reveals that care homes in England are facing the biggest staff shortage on record, with 105,000 positions unfilled according to the 2021 State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce report by Skills for Care, an industry body.

Mandatory double vaccination for all frontline workers is now less than a month away, meaning the situation is set to worsen. Monaghan said: “Across the social care sector, the staffing crisis means [fewer] care places for older people. Even as a large charity, MHA was forced to close 10% of our care homes to new admissions on average over the past month, which means more older people are staying in hospital when they don’t need to be there.”

Seven of MHA’s 89 homes remain closed to new residents due to staffing levels, Monaghan added. One area hit particularly hard was Yorkshire, he said, with three MHA homes currently unable to take in people from local hospitals. The crisis underlined the “gap between political aspirations and the reality on the ground for people who need good quality care right now”, he warned.

The workforce shortage is being compounded by a slump in foreign staff coming to fill vacancies, the Skills for Care report shows. Less than 2% of new starters in the first quarter of this year arrived from abroad, compared with more than 8% in 2019 – an estimated drop of about 20,000 people.

Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said delayed discharges of medically fit patients was having a serious effect on other parts of the health service.

“Health leaders do not want patients who are medically fit and ready to be discharged to have to stay in hospital any longer than they need to as it won’t be the best environment to support their recovery and it means that other patients will have to wait longer for their treatment,” he said. “Increases in delays to discharging patients means fewer inpatient beds available and delays in A&E and elsewhere.”

Last month, Sajid Javid, the health secretary, announced £478m in extra funding to enable the quick and safe discharge of patients from hospitals this winter. But experts said the cash would not resolve the shortage of social care workers to look after discharged patients.

“This funding will be welcome but without parallel investment in social care staff to support getting people out of hospital in a timely way and recover closer to home, then patients will face longer waits, or it will be unpaid carers that are left to provide this support,” said Nina Hemmings, researcher at the Nuffield Trust thinktank.

Thousands of staff who are declining Covid vaccinations are expected to be told they can no longer be deployed in care homes in the coming weeks. Many have already quit. Nearly 13% of staff in older adult care homes had not been double vaccinated by 3 October – over 59,000 workers.

Staffing levels in certain areas are likely to be disproportionately hit. Almost one in four care workers in Manchester have not had two jabs, and around one in five in Stoke, Thurrock, and Hackney and Lambeth in London, NHS England data shows.

The government has made double vaccination a “condition of deployment” in care homes in England from 11 November to limit infection spread. Care home operators have called for the deadline to be postponed, pointing out that a similar policy for NHS workers remains under consultation. Nadra Ahmed, the chair of the National Care Association, said it had “succeeded in bringing the sector to its knees”.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We appreciate the dedication and tireless efforts of care workers throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. We are providing at least £500m to support the care workforce as part of the £5.4bn to reform social care. We are also working to ensure we have the right number of staff with the skills to deliver high quality care to meet increasing demands. This includes running regular national recruitment campaigns and providing councils with over £1bn of additional funding for social care this year.”

The NHS faces a mounting beds crisis as care homes suffering unprecedented staff shortages are forced to stop taking patients from hospitals, health and care leaders have warned.

Ministers are desperately trying to free up space in the NHS to tackle a backlog of 5.6 million people – equivalent to almost 10% of people in England – awaiting treatment.

But efforts to speed up the discharge of hospital patients into the community are being hampered by care worker shortages. Britain’s largest not-for-profit care home provider, MHA, has already had to close one in 10 of its homes to admissions from hospitals, its chief executive, Sam Monaghan, told the Guardian.

The warning comes as a comprehensive assessment on Wednesday reveals that care homes in England are facing the biggest staff shortage on record, with 105,000 positions unfilled according to the 2021 State of the Adult Social Care Sector and Workforce report by Skills for Care, an industry body.

Mandatory double vaccination for all frontline workers is now less than a month away, meaning the situation is set to worsen. Monaghan said: “Across the social care sector, the staffing crisis means [fewer] care places for older people. Even as a large charity, MHA was forced to close 10% of our care homes to new admissions on average over the past month, which means more older people are staying in hospital when they don’t need to be there.”

Seven of MHA’s 89 homes remain closed to new residents due to staffing levels, Monaghan added. One area hit particularly hard was Yorkshire, he said, with three MHA homes currently unable to take in people from local hospitals. The crisis underlined the “gap between political aspirations and the reality on the ground for people who need good quality care right now”, he warned.

The workforce shortage is being compounded by a slump in foreign staff coming to fill vacancies, the Skills for Care report shows. Less than 2% of new starters in the first quarter of this year arrived from abroad, compared with more than 8% in 2019 – an estimated drop of about 20,000 people.

Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said delayed discharges of medically fit patients was having a serious effect on other parts of the health service.

“Health leaders do not want patients who are medically fit and ready to be discharged to have to stay in hospital any longer than they need to as it won’t be the best environment to support their recovery and it means that other patients will have to wait longer for their treatment,” he said. “Increases in delays to discharging patients means fewer inpatient beds available and delays in A&E and elsewhere.”

Last month, Sajid Javid, the health secretary, announced £478m in extra funding to enable the quick and safe discharge of patients from hospitals this winter. But experts said the cash would not resolve the shortage of social care workers to look after discharged patients.

“This funding will be welcome but without parallel investment in social care staff to support getting people out of hospital in a timely way and recover closer to home, then patients will face longer waits, or it will be unpaid carers that are left to provide this support,” said Nina Hemmings, researcher at the Nuffield Trust thinktank.

Thousands of staff who are declining Covid vaccinations are expected to be told they can no longer be deployed in care homes in the coming weeks. Many have already quit. Nearly 13% of staff in older adult care homes had not been double vaccinated by 3 October – over 59,000 workers.

Staffing levels in certain areas are likely to be disproportionately hit. Almost one in four care workers in Manchester have not had two jabs, and around one in five in Stoke, Thurrock, and Hackney and Lambeth in London, NHS England data shows.

The government has made double vaccination a “condition of deployment” in care homes in England from 11 November to limit infection spread. Care home operators have called for the deadline to be postponed, pointing out that a similar policy for NHS workers remains under consultation. Nadra Ahmed, the chair of the National Care Association, said it had “succeeded in bringing the sector to its knees”.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We appreciate the dedication and tireless efforts of care workers throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. We are providing at least £500m to support the care workforce as part of the £5.4bn to reform social care. We are also working to ensure we have the right number of staff with the skills to deliver high quality care to meet increasing demands. This includes running regular national recruitment campaigns and providing councils with over £1bn of additional funding for social care this year.”

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Health

Bayelsa records 98% immunisation coverage

Bayelsa has recorded a 98 per cent coverage in the first round of the 2025 National Immunisation Plus Days (NIPDs) programme conducted from the May 3 to May 6.

Mr Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, deputy governor of the state, disclosed this during a meeting of the state’s taskforce on immunisation in Yenagoa on Wednesday.

He said that the government’s ultimate target was to achieve 100 per cent coverage in subsequent immunisation campaigns.

Ewhrudjakpo lauded the WHO, UNICEF, the Ministry of Health and other critical stakeholders for the feat achieved so far.

He, however, urged the partners not to rest on their oars as much still have to be done to achieve its target of 100 per cent immunization coverage.

He underscored the need for early preparations ahead of the second round of 2025 NIPDs scheduled for July.

The deputy governor assured the partners that funds for the programme would be released not later than two weeks to its commencement.

He directed all council chairmen to flag-off the second round of the 2025 NIPDs programme at any community other than their respective local government headquarters.

The deputy governor urged the chairmen to meet with the traditional rulers, school proprietors, and religious leaders in their areas to sensitise them on the importance of immunisation.

He also called parents, schools and churches to allow children to participate in the immunisation programme.

”The state government is serious about enforcing its public health law and executive order on compulsory immunisation.

“We have taken our immunisation coverage up to 98 per cent. But we want to take it to 100 per cent this time around, and that is why we have convened this meeting.

“We are also going to make an upward review of the logistics to reflect the present economic realities in the country,” he said.

Presentations by Dr Marcus Oluwadare of the WHO, and Dr Gbanaibulou Orukari, Director of Disease Control, Bayelsa State Primary Healthcare Board, revealed that area councils scored high percentage in the coverage.

They, however, identified poor workload rationalisation, data falsification and lack of commitment on the part of some personnel.

According to Oluwadare, we commend the Deputy Governor of the state for flagging off the NIPDs and chairing all the state ERMs in spite of his tight schedule.

“Bayelsa State was the only state to have full complements of her stakeholders in attendance during the April NIPDs in the whole of Nigeria,” he said.

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Health

NCDC records 832 Lassa fever, Mpox cases, 135 deaths

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed the country has recorded 832 confirmed cases of Lassa fever and Mpox.

Speaking during a press briefing on Friday in Abuja, the agency’s Director General, Dr. Jide Idris, revealed that 132 fatalities were recorded from Lassa fever and three from Mpox.

While acknowledging a recent decline in Lassa fever infections during epidemiological week 16 (ending April 20, 2025), he warned that the overall risk remains high, particularly in endemic regions.

“Cumulatively, as of week 16, Nigeria has reported 4,253 suspected cases of Lassa fever, 696 confirmed cases, and 132 deaths, resulting in a case fatality rate of 19.0 percent,” he stated.

Dr. Idris attributed recent improvements to intensified surveillance, treatment efforts, and enhanced community engagement. He emphasized, however, the continued need for vigilance and collaboration to sustain progress.

Regarding Mpox, the NCDC boss disclosed that three deaths have been recorded in 2025—two in Abia and Ebonyi States in week 10, and one recently in Rivers State involving a patient co-infected with HIV and tuberculosis. As of week 16, 723 suspected cases and 136 laboratory-confirmed cases of Mpox have been reported across 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The national case fatality rate currently stands at 2.2 per cent.

“The epidemic curve reveals multiple peaks in Mpox cases, indicating ongoing transmission. While most states have reported suspected cases, confirmed infections are heavily concentrated in Nigeria’s southern and central regions,” Dr. Idris noted.

To address these outbreaks, the NCDC has activated its Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), deployed National Rapid Response Teams to affected states, and prepositioned essential medical supplies, including personal protective equipment and laboratory consumables. Five additional Mpox diagnostic laboratories have also been optimized in Bauchi, Kano, Cross River, Rivers, and Enugu States.

“Healthcare workers are undergoing specialized training in infection prevention, case management, and cerebrospinal meningitis (CSM) care. Community outreach is being reinforced through public awareness campaigns, media engagement, and targeted health communication strategies,” he added.

On cerebrospinal meningitis, Dr. Idris reported a consistent decline in new cases and fatalities over the last three weeks.

He attributed the improvement to effective vaccination, early treatment, and adaptive surveillance strategies tailored to real-time data.

“Although the situation remains serious, strong national and state-level coordination is showing positive results. The response will continue until full containment is achieved and states take full ownership of the CSM Incident Action Plan,” he said.

Dr. Idris also expressed concern about the rising Mpox trend since its reemergence in 2017, with significant spikes recorded between 2022 and 2024, positioning Nigeria among the most affected countries globally. He warned that underreporting and delayed data entry remain challenges that need urgent resolution to ensure accurate and timely outbreak response.

A national mortality review for the recent Mpox deaths is being planned to further assess response effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.

The NCDC reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding public health through timely surveillance, transparent reporting, and coordinated national response mechanisms aimed at reducing disease burden and preventing future outbreaks.

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Health

Only 89 doctors left in Kwara Govt hospitals amid ‘Japa’ crisis – Health Board

The Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Hospital Management Board, Abdulrahman Malik, disclosed that there is an acute shortage of medical doctors in the state-owned hospitals.

Speaking at the state interministerial press briefing for the first quarter of 2025 on Tuesday, April 29, Malik said that due to the ‘Japa’ syndrome, doctors do not want to take up appointments with the state government, even when the government is ready to recruit them.

He lamented that while between 180 and 200 doctors are required in the government service, only 89 of them are available in the service.

He said the number of available doctors only recently became 89 from 86 when three who had left the service returned after the government introduced a new and improved salary for the doctors’ services.

The hospital board’s boss said the government had been trying to attract doctors to the state service with improved salaries and facilities that could encourage them to stay, especially in the rural areas where many of them do not want to go.

He also disclosed that the government has introduced an intern nurses programme for the training of nurses who would replace many nurses who had left the service for abroad.

“The mass exodus of health professionals is severely affecting our capacity to provide adequate care,” the official said.

“Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has approved an upgrade in the salaries of our doctors to match federal pay in a bid to retain the few we have left.

“The revised salary structure has led to the return of three doctors who had previously resigned, bringing the total number on the state’s payroll to 89.

“However, the figure still falls short of the estimated 180 to 200 physicians needed to serve the state’s population effectively.

“Nigeria’s doctor-to-patient ratio is currently estimated at one doctor to over 5,000 patients, far below the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended one doctor to 600 patients.”

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