COVID-19 five years on: Fear, isolation and a recruitment crisis, the challenges facing the home care sector

A report by the BMA (British Medical Association) on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare delivery begins by stating ‘Health and care systems across the UK were operating in environments of scarcity long before COVID-19 and we poorly prepared to weather the storm of the pandemic’.

It’s perhaps, therefore, unsurprising that, following this once-in-a-lifetime experience, recruitment has been an even greater challenge for the sector.

Lausa Biragi, the founder of You & I Care, which operates in Surrey, as well as Essex and Hertfordshire, said: “Caring during the pandemic became scary for many people and as such it became a frightening profession for many. This has of course had a long lasting impact on recruitment. Not only do people not consider the profession, but we have lost many experienced and talented carers.

“We hope that with time they recover from the trauma of the period and will return to the sector, but for now we are in a recruitment crisis that was only worsened by the pandemic.”

The ongoing impact on recruitment has resulted in You & I Care turning to the international market for carers after often not receiving even one national application for advertised carer roles.

In recent months the business has focused on returning to only recruiting national staff.

“It is over eight months now that we have only recruited national staff,” added Lausa. “We feel we can see the shoots of hope and are beginning to recover, but there is still a lot of fear and a way to go.”

You & I Care carers have also witnessed increased isolation and fear of socialisation amongst service users following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Perhaps the most saddening lasting impact of COVID for service users though, is isolation thanks to a growing fear of infection and illness,” said Lausa. “Fear of infection has become a phobia for many, so they now prefer to stay in their homes. This lack of socialisation means we have to work with service users to build their confidence and encourage them to spend more time in environments where they can interact with others.”

Delayed care provision has also increased post COVID-19, reports Lausa. “Both privately and publicly we see service users utilising our services much later than would have been ideal. Frequently we are being introduced after a period of time in hospital, which could’ve been avoided if home care was introduced earlier. But financially people are not better off and so we know care provision is being sought later and this results in people being removed from their homes earlier than could have been the case.”

There have of course been some positive hangovers from the pandemic. As for many sectors home care has embraced hybrid working where possible and the sector as a whole has digitalised.

“We always have been digital first,” said Lausa. “The sector as a whole has now moved more in this direction. For our business, we were already in a strong position to transition to home working, and home reporting. For example, following a visit to a service user many staff would previously have been office based for all administrative tasks.

"This is no longer the case so staff are able to deliver care in the field, and all follow ups or family calls for example can also be delivered away from the head office, if that is what suits them best.

“Digitalisation of the sector has also improved quality assurance. Thanks to video calling it’s removed the need for face to face meetings with families on every occasion for discussion or follow up. This means we are able to communicate more regularly and effectively without the barrier of securing a suitable in-person meeting.”

Tolerance and acceptance of immunisation reception has also improved, reports Lausa, with more people inclined to get seasonal immunisations such as the flu jab than before.

“We’ve also seen a growth in family involvement in care provision,” said Lausa. “Families were more present during the pandemic, which resulted in them getting more involved in the care of their elderly relatives. This has continued thanks to flexible working, which is preferable for the service user and also can be important financially.”

Infection control has also risen up the agenda, with more awareness and implementation of simple measures to reduce the spread of infections. “For us it was shocking that actions such as washing your hands for more than a few seconds had to be advertised,” recalls Lausa. “In the care industry we have always focused on infection control, but we have certainly welcomed others having more focus on this as well.”