The coronavirus-hit care homes without enough staff

A dozen care homes in Scotland do not have enough staff to meet the needs of their residents, official figures show.

Nearly one in five care homes have flagged up concerns over staffing levels to watchdogs since 3 April.

The vast majority of these homes are now properly resourced after seeking Scottish government support.

But 31 homes are still graded as "only just able to provide" the right staffing levels, while a further 12 "no longer have adequate levels" needed.

The Scottish government said any home which flags up shortages because of Covid-19 illness or absence is offered immediate help from the Care Inspectorate watchdog.

This could see the home allocated NHS nursing support or paired with available agency workers.

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Meanwhile, it has been revealed more than 2,600 people have applied to work in social care since a recruitment drive for the sector was launched in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

Dr Donald Macaskill, chief executive of trade body Scottish Care, whose members provide the vast majority of Scotland's 36,000 care home beds, said these new recruits would be a "timely boost" for the industry.

He said: "These Care Inspectorate figures are very much in line with what we are hearing from care homes.

"I actually think things were worse at the end of March and into early April but the picture is an improving one, not withstanding some extreme cases.

"This is partly because workers are returning to work after 14 days self-isolation and there has been some movement in testing, all of which helps to alleviates the pressure."

There are 1,083 adult care homes in Scotland with a number of them reporting multiple deaths as a result of the coronavirus outbreak

Scotland's adult care homes are required to report to the Care Inspectorate if they are experiencing staffing issues,

The watchdog then passes this data to the Scottish government, which said that since 3 April a total of 187 care homes have raised concerns about staffing resilience.

Of these, 144 are currently categorised as having "sufficient staff members and skill mix to meet the needs of people who use this service".

A further 31 are where "staff are stretched and only just able to provide the staff levels and skill mix" to meet the needs.

Lastly, 12 homes "no longer have adequate levels and skill mix to meet the needs of those they care for".

The data is the latest available, does not name homes and could include occasions where a home has submitted more than one notification.

Thousands apply

The Scottish Social Service Council (SSSC) has revealed it has received a total of 2,634 applications to work in social care, with 67 of those matched with employers since firms could access this list of potential recruits on Friday.

The SSSC carries out pre-employment checks on people but people in social service roles can currently work for 12 months before they must register.

A Scottish government spokesman said: "The Care Inspectorate is working with any homes who raise concerns over staffing levels to help address the issues and provide practical advice and support to ensure they have enough staff to provide the care required.

"The very small number of homes that have flagged that they have not had enough staff at any point due to illness or absence have been contacted by the Care Inspectorate and offered the help they need.

"Working with local health and social care partnerships and other local agencies, these interventions are having positive results to enable services to provide the right care for people they support."

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