“The Isle of Wight is in desperate need of care staff.”
That’s the message from the Isle of Wight Council Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Public Health and Housing Needs, Karl Love.
Cllr Love told News OnTheWight,
“We are running out of care staff and facing a real emergency.
“Such is the situation that our NHS colleagues are on Opel 4 alert (read what this is) with such shortages of care staff and it’s the same for many care providers across the Isle of Wight.”
Love: “We desperately need more care staff”
The ward councillor for East Cowes continued,
“We desperately need more care staff right across the entire sector. I’m appealing to those carers who have left the service to please come back into the care sector.
“Our Island people need you all now. It’s not just about Covid, it’s about how our Island is running out of a working population to support an ever-increasing number of aging people with health needs.
“I’m asking people to consider if they might even work part-time in this sector to provide important services.”
See Jobs OnTheWight for the latest job listings on the Isle of Wight.
Impact of vaccination programme
The sector could see a further impact as the Covid vaccines for care home staff are set to become compulsory by the autumn.
Following regulations approved by Government last month, from October, anyone working in a Care Quality Commission (CQC)-registered care home in England must have had two Covid-19 vaccines unless they have a medical exemption.
Opel 4 alert
Operations Pressure Escalation Levels (Opel) is a method used by the NHS to measure the stress, demand and pressure a hospital is under, with Opel 4 representing the high escalation level.
Image: Luke Jones under CC BY 2.0
