BREXIT could exacerbate a “severe workforce crisis” in the care sector, potentially forcing homes and other services to shut, the industry has warned.
Scottish Care, the organisation that represents independent care providers, said it was already “experiencing unprecedented difficulties in terms of viability and sustainability”.
With European citizens making up as much as eight per cent of the social care nursing workforce, it warned of the impact that leaving the European Union could have on staffing.
Scottish Care said measures must be put in place to make working in the sector a more attractive option for UK citizens, claiming “it is routinely possible to get paid more money to stack shelves in a local supermarket than it is to deliver care and support to some of our most vulnerable citizens”.
They warned: “Even with a significant increase, it is extremely unlikely that recruiting more UK nationals alone will be sufficient to resolve the recruitment challenge that exists within social care.”
MSPs on Holyrood’s Health Committee are currently considering the impact Brexit will have on the health and social care sector in Scotland
In response, Scottish Care said it was “profoundly concerned” about the impact of reducing the availability of workers from the EU.
In a submission to the committee, the organisation said: “There are a number of significant risks to health and social care provision associated with Brexit, not least a worsening of what is already a severe workforce recruitment and retention crisis to the point whereby services cease to operate.”
A survey of the organisation’s members early this year found 85 per cent are already concerned about their sustainability going forward, with a quarter “extremely concerned”.
Scottish Care said it is “profoundly concerned” about the impact of a reduction in staff from the European Economic Area could have on the delivery of social care.
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