Care homes in the UK are reportedly seeing a 100 per cent rise in their electricity bills. According to Daily Mail, care homeowners may have to shut down their setup if this continues this winter. The article suggests that Care home with 50 residents spends around £50K a year on gas and electricity, but an energy broker stated that the price hikes could lead to them paying double that amount. Melanie Weatherby, the co-chair of the Care Association Alliance, was quoted by the Mail, saying that the soaring price of wholesale gas could be the 'straw that breaks the camel's back'. Seven firms have pulled the plug so far amid a warning from the government to prepare for the worst, a report said.
This is when care home workers also need to comply with the mandate to get vaccinated should they continue to work at a care home in the UK to prevent the rise in Covid infections among the elderly.
Meanwhile, it is imperative to note that the UK currently needs nearly two million workers and relaxation in immigration rules to avert this looming crisis of an array of shortages. The Mail reported figures as follows: Active job posts reveal bosses are crying out for 55,019 care staff, 36, 471 chefs, 32,615 sales assistants - amid urgent calls to relax immigration rules to ease crisis Job market data from September 13 to September 19 shows firms in the UK posted 220,000 new job roles. The figure, from September 13 to September 19, brings the total number of active jobs to more than a 1.9million. Job advert figures also show more than 7,500 job adverts have been posted for HGV drivers in the UK last week. The Road Haulage Association estimate the UK to be short 100,000 HGV drivers, amid driver shortage chaos.
Asian Voice reached out to several care homes to understand the situation but did not receive a response.
If you are an Asian and running a care home or are a care home worker who would like to share their story, Asian Voice will be happy to publish it. Please write to us at [email protected].
