‘It is not a new problem, or a pandemic-created crisis.They are running out of care staff because they don’t pay fairly’
As health and adult social care bosses in West Northamptonshire plead for more money from government to pay staff ‘properly’, the Labour opposition says fair pay is needed
By Sarah Ward
Yesterday the boss of Northampton General Hospital and the leader of West Northamptonshire Council joined forces to urge the government to hand over more funding to help recruit and retain carers.
In a joint statement Simon Weldon, who is group chief executive of both Kettering and Northampton general hospitals, Northampton hospital boss Heidi Smoult and council chief exec Anna Earnshaw said care staff shortages were already causing delays to when patients can leave hospital and the problem will only get worse as the winter hits during high Covid transmission rates.
Currently care staff who work for West Northamptonshire council are paid just £8.91 an hour, and are not being paid a living wage. The authority employs hundreds of its own care staff and also uses agency and has contracts with private providers.
The statement said:
“Care worker shortages in Northamptonshire are already resulting in delays to patient discharges in our hospitals. This is of extreme concern becaus…