‘If you go to Saudi, it’s sunny’: foreign care workers could quit UK after clampdown

Ban on bringing dependants has raised fears that England’s care staff shortage will only worsenIt’s sunnier in Dubai, the visa lasts longer in the US and the wages are better in Canada. Many foreign care workers had already been thinking of quitting Br…

Ban on bringing dependants has raised fears that England’s care staff shortage will only worsen

It’s sunnier in Dubai, the visa lasts longer in the US and the wages are better in Canada. Many foreign care workers had already been thinking of quitting Britain for similar jobs elsewhere before the home secretary announced on Monday that dependants of new applicants would no longer be welcome.

Experts say the move, effective from next spring, will only make England’s severe care staff shortage worse amid international competition for people willing to look after society’s most vulnerable on low pay.

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Norfolk care home accused of waking residents with loud music to save money

Staff at Iceni Care Home say vulnerable residents were treated as if they were ‘on a farm’ to reduce workloadCare workers at a private care home forced dementia sufferers out of bed as early as 5am and woke them by blasting loud radio music to save m…

Staff at Iceni Care Home say vulnerable residents were treated as if they were ‘on a farm’ to reduce workload

Care workers at a private care home forced dementia sufferers out of bed as early as 5am and woke them by blasting loud radio music to save money, whistleblowers have alleged.

The management of Iceni Care Home in Swaffham, Norfolk, received repeated complaints about the practice this summer, as concerned staff said vulnerable residents were being treated as if they were “on a farm” in order to reduce the workload on daycare staff.

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Norfolk care home accused of waking residents with loud music to save money

Staff at Iceni Care Home say vulnerable residents were treated as if they were ‘on a farm’ to reduce workloadCare workers at a private care home forced dementia sufferers out of bed as early as 5am and woke them by blasting loud radio music to save m…

Staff at Iceni Care Home say vulnerable residents were treated as if they were ‘on a farm’ to reduce workload

Care workers at a private care home forced dementia sufferers out of bed as early as 5am and woke them by blasting loud radio music to save money, whistleblowers have alleged.

The management of Iceni Care Home in Swaffham, Norfolk, received repeated complaints about the practice this summer, as concerned staff said vulnerable residents were being treated as if they were “on a farm” in order to reduce the workload on daycare staff.

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Rishi Sunak says he ‘inherited’ very high immigration from Boris Johnson

Prime minister says he will ‘do what is necessary’ to bring down net migration, under pressure from the Conservative rightRishi Sunak has blamed high levels of net migration on Boris Johnson, saying he had “inherited these very large numbers” that he w…

Prime minister says he will ‘do what is necessary’ to bring down net migration, under pressure from the Conservative right

Rishi Sunak has blamed high levels of net migration on Boris Johnson, saying he had “inherited these very large numbers” that he was determined to bring down.

The prime minister vowed to “do what is necessary” to bring net migration down, as he comes under pressure from the right of his party to reduce the number of new arrivals to the UK before the next election.

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Tory turmoil hits efforts to fix staffing crisis in adult social care

National Audit Office says political chaos has delayed proposed measures to improve recruitment in EnglandThe government has delayed several key reforms to social care staffing in England due to political chaos caused by the collapse of the Boris Johns…

National Audit Office says political chaos has delayed proposed measures to improve recruitment in England

The government has delayed several key reforms to social care staffing in England due to political chaos caused by the collapse of the Boris Johnson and Liz Truss governments and a Whitehall recruitment freeze, it has emerged.

Work to create new training places and develop the low-paid care workforce was supposed to start in September but has been delayed by at least six months.

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Sunak and Johnson pushed repeatedly against autumn lockdown, inquiry told

Covid investigation also told taskforce coordinating pandemic policy had no warning of ‘eat out to help out’UK politics live – latest updatesRishi Sunak and Boris Johnson pushed repeatedly against lockdown measures during the second wave of Covid in au…

Covid investigation also told taskforce coordinating pandemic policy had no warning of ‘eat out to help out’

Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson pushed repeatedly against lockdown measures during the second wave of Covid in autumn 2020, with the government’s chief scientist accusing the then-chancellor of using “spurious” arguments against new rules, the inquiry into the pandemic has heard.

In a day of evidence that placed increasing focus on Sunak’s role, the inquiry also heard that his flagship “eat out to help out” hospitality scheme was imposed without consulting the government’s Covid taskforce, leaving officials “blindsided” by the Treasury.

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Jenrick’s perverse solution to plug our social care gap | Letters

Readers respond to the minister’s suggestion that British people should have more children to reduce the need for migrant care workersRobert Jenrick has suggested that instead of granting visas to overseas workers to fill the gaping hole in our care sy…

Readers respond to the minister’s suggestion that British people should have more children to reduce the need for migrant care workers

Robert Jenrick has suggested that instead of granting visas to overseas workers to fill the gaping hole in our care system, British parents should be encouraged to have more children to provide the workforce to look after our growing population of elderly people (Report, 2 October). This has to be one of the most stupid things I’ve heard coming out of the mouth of a Tory minister.

For a start, with a world population of 8 billion and rising, that already pushes available resources to the limit, it’s not a good plan to encourage a faster increase. And even if it were to happen, it’s going to be at least 20 years before it makes a difference to the workforce, which is no good for those who are elderly now.

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Hard work, creativity, vision: the essentials of outstanding home care

Four out of five home care agencies are rated good, but only 3% are deemed outstanding. What are inspectors looking for?“Absolutely soul-destroying” is how Cath Loates and Sandra Harris remember the day their home care business was rated inadequate. “I…

Four out of five home care agencies are rated good, but only 3% are deemed outstanding. What are inspectors looking for?

“Absolutely soul-destroying” is how Cath Loates and Sandra Harris remember the day their home care business was rated inadequate. “It knocked the wind out of my sails, out of all of us,” says Loates, the company director.

After working to establish Eboney Home Care in Consett, County Durham, over seven years, Loates and Harris decided to step back from the day-to-day running and hand over the reins to other staff in 2012. “But actually, we should never have taken our eye off the ball,” says Loates.

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