We are really pleased to announce that Emma Dowling will be joining our next open meeting on the 22nd of February at 7pm. Emma is the author of The Care Crisis: What Caused It and How We End It? and she will be introducing the meeting by highlighting the history of the staffing crisis and the factor which compound the situation.

Staffing problems in social care are not new. Poverty wages, insecure employment, and a lack of opportunities for progression have all, unsurprisingly, made it difficult for the sector to attract and retain staff. The past two years, however, have seen us reach a crisis point.

A workforce already ill-treated and underpaid has been exhausted by the pandemic. The introduction of mandatory vaccinations has already lost us tens of thousands of workers in our care homes and will soon lose us more. We are seeing a mass exodus of workers as many are leaving for better paid work in retail and hospitality.

Joining Dowling on the Panel will be Larry Sanders the former spokesperson on health and social care for the Green Party and mover of the recent Green Party motion supporting free social care for all, Steve North from Salford Unison and author of the tribune article – How Salford Won Big For Carers, Stella from CaSWO and a representative from WinVisible.