BirSaNN Posted April 4, 2023 Posted April 4, 2023 Social care providers in Scotland have said a growing pay gap between NHS and social care staff must be addressed to avoid catastrophe in the sector. They have warned they cannot pay enough to attract staff to look after Scotland's growing elderly po[CENSORED]tion and keep them out of hospital. Providers said nurses and carers were leaving for better wages in the NHS and overseas. Scottish ministers said their workforce strategy would address the challenges. ADVERTISEMENT Glasgow cuts £22m from health and social care New national care service law to be delayed Care workers 'not adequately valued or rewarded' At the Erskine care home in Edinburgh, Jaclyn Daly from Canberra, Australia works as a care assistant while she studies nursing. Cathy Combe, a resident at the home for military veterans and their spouses, says the staff are all lovely. "They do everything for you, and you never have to worry about a thing," the 89-year-old says. "Before my husband passed on, they were very kind with him. I thought I would have to move when my husband died. But they said, no, you are a widow of the regiment - and that's how I'm still here now." 'NHS wages are better' Jaclyn is a fourth-year student nurse, who works as a care assistant, but also picks up bank shifts in the NHS. "It's hard because when you work in the NHS, the wages are a little bit better, depending on the type of shifts, and the holiday pay that you get compared to here," she says. "But you've got uncertainty with it. You're not familiar with the area that you might be working in, and you don't know your residents." She says that in the social care sector "continuity of care is really important". "It's the little nuances of each resident. It's knowing how they like their tea or their coffee or, for example, a resident who likes to brush his teeth after breakfast." Independent companies and charities like Erskine are paid by local authorities to take in residents whose means fall below the threshold to self-fund their own care, under the National Care Home Contract. It sti[CENSORED]tes that care staff should receive the real Living Wage - £10.90 an hour, as of 1 April. But Ian Cumming, who runs Erskine, says this is well below the rate paid to equivalent staff in the NHS and other care homes that are council-run. "The NHS and local authority equivalent is 21% higher, moving towards 24% higher [after pay negotiations]," he says. "Ultimately that means £5,000 a year more if you work in the NHS, and that's before you start talking about sick pay, pensions, and additional pay at weekends." 'Really skewed labour market' He says care providers cannot compete on that level. "We try our very best to make up that shortfall through fundraising," he says. "People are at the very core of everything we do and our staff deserve to be rewarded for the unique skills that they bring." link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-65167087
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