now experts in the care sector say that
they're concerned that the uk's new
immigration rules
will limit the ability to recruit enough
staff to care for the elderly and the
disabled
in england it's estimated that there are
112 000
job vacancies in care homes and in the
home care sector
from january the new rules will mean
that most overseas care workers
will not earn enough to qualify for a
work visa
but ministers say the care companies
will be able to recruit enough people
from within the uk as our social affairs
correspondent
alison holt explains now hello my name
is pedro
i'm from spain this is where i live in
montreal
this is the home that 22 year old pedro
is leaving
with just days before the end of the
brexit transition he's heading to
cornwall to become a care worker
residential homes there can't recruit
enough local staff
i knew i should do something to help
this is why i decided to work
in a career center there are an
estimated 112
000 care vacancies in england alone
everything is fine many who are
recruited like pedro
make the journey from the eu
this is his new home in penzance old
manor residential home has recently been
refurbished but there aren't enough
staff to reopen it
it's run by mary anson she's recruited
six people from the eu before the rules
change
they'll start work in one of her other
homes but she hopes it will allow her to
bring new residents
in here just empty and waiting for
someone to occupy
it is a shame it's a terrible waste all
for the lack of staff
or sufficient staff we've got some great
staff but just not enough of them
and that pool of people coming and
living here is going to decline
home care providers also warn of
increased staffing problems
as most new uk arrivals will have to
earn over 25
000 pounds a year much more than the
majority of care workers get
we call on the government in the short
term to
add care workers to the shortage
occupation list
and then in the longer term to make good
on their promises to fix social care
so that we can invest properly in the
workforce
if you want to do something important
care for others
in april as the first wave of kovid 19
peaked the government rolled out a
recruitment drive
the bbc has been told by the end of july
the campaign had shortlisted just 716
people
we need you now and they need you always
but the government says it's had tens of
thousands of applications across its
platforms
which have helped cut the vacancy rate
and covid has forced some like christian
to rethink their careers
he was an airline cabin manager but
needing a change after getting the virus
and being furloughed
he now works in a west sussex care home
here
you've still got cool bells and you
still got trolleys to push around
here it's a bit more special than them a
lot more special i
leave here and i feeling um does
something pretty
good with myself and for somebody else
and for many the pandemic has
highlighted the need to do much more to
recognize the importance of care workers
alison holt bbc news