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One care representative body accused the Government of focussing more on a lack of HGV lorry drivers and shortages of retail workers than in the care sector.
It comes as health and social care job adverts have stagnated in the past three years, recent ONS figures have revealed.

One care chief told the Express that they only expected the number of vacancies being offered in the sector to rise following the requirement for care home workers to be vaccinated against coronavirus that came into effect on Thursday – which many fear will lead to mass firings.

This, along with shortages in the sector, look to strain the NHS as it goes into its second winter facing Covid-19.

As of October 15, ONS figures revealed that the volume of online job adverts had grown to 143 percent of the February 2020 average.

Catering and hospitality, and wholesale and retail jobs saw the largest rises in new vacancies in 2021, after massive falls in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hit.

However, health and social care job vacancies have hovered around that February 2020 average since 2019, with the ONS noting with the statistics that “from April 2020 it has increasingly diverged from the vacancies data”.

This is despite a House of Commons report noting in January 2020 – before the pandemic had hit – there being a shortage of 100,000 full-time equivalent staff in NHS England alone, and a further estimated 122,000 vacancies in adult social care.

At the time, that equated to a vacancy rate of 8 percent, compared with under 3 percent for the rest of the UK economy. A report released on October 20 by Care England found that the pandemic had pushed the care home vacancy rate 3 percent higher.

“This increase represents just over 3,000 people,” it noted.

Care England wrote that it was “highly concerning” that despite such a high vacancy rate, “central Government have thus far remained largely mute to our concerns.

“Most recently, the HGV and retail sector received significant aid and attention over their shortage in workers, whilst care has continued to be overlooked.”

Without a strong workforce, it said, “the NHS will suffer” as hospital beds cannot be freed up to reduce the backlog.

Nadra Ahmed OBE, chair of the National Care Association, told the Express: “The numbers will rise steady I suspect as we go into next year as the impact of mandatory vaccinations takes hold.”

A spokesperson for Care England added that vacancies hadn’t risen significantly because “the demand was just as great prior to the pandemic.”

There will “almost certainly be an uptick” following mandatory Covid-19 vaccines for care home workers coming into force, they forecast.

As of November 11, anyone working or volunteering in a care home must be fully vaccinated against coronavirus, as per Government regulations brought forward earlier this year as part of efforts to protect the vulnerable from the virus.

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It is believed that the growing shortage of staff will not only impact the NHS, but care patients as well.

According to the Care England report, 69 percent of member care providers believed that the workforce crisis was having an impact on the quality of care they were able to offer.

Meanwhile, all respondents said they were struggling to recruit, with 88 percent declaring that they were finding it challenging to retain staff.

In its latest report on the state of health and social care in England, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) confirmed that care staff were leaving for better paid jobs in retail and hospitality, and were unable to recruit replacements.

In England alone, the number of unfilled vacancies rose from 6 percent in April to more than 10 percent in September.

Care England said that even before the pandemic, this haemorrhaging of staff was being driven by “lower pay rates than other sectors” and “easier hours and better working conditions in other sectors”, as well as “public perception”.

Not only had mandatory vaccines exacerbated the situation, they said, but burnout from the pandemic was a contributing factor to retention problems.

“A high turnover rate leads to the increased use of agency staff by care home providers,” Care England noted, adding: “agency staff, no matter how good, are not replacements for known members of the team, because the key to providing safe and fulfilling care to those with specialist needs is familiarity and trust.

“Retention of staff is important as it will lead to a more qualified workforce.”

On October 21, the Government announced an extra £162.5 million to increase the adult social care workforce.

The CQC welcomed the funds, but warned that “it must be used to enable new ways of working that recognise the interdependency of all health and care settings, not just to prop up existing approaches and to plug demand in acute care.”

The Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Our message is clear: vaccines save lives and while staff and residents in care homes have been prioritised and the majority are now vaccinated, it is our responsibility to do everything we can to protect vulnerable people.

“We consulted and worked closely with the sector to encourage take up of the vaccine ahead of the deadline. Since the consultation was announced uptake of the first dose amongst care home staff has risen from 80 percent to 94 percent.

“We are working closely with local authorities and care home providers to ensure there will always be enough staff with the right skills to deliver high quality care.”

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