Social care at ‘crisis point’ as mental health toll on ‘forgotten’ workers revealed

Research finds ‘beleaguered’ providers handing back contracts and making redundancies amid soaring costs, while a union warns staff are ‘exhausted and traumatised’, reports Jon Sharman

Matt Hancock displays an NHS-style ‘Care’ badge in April 2020. Ministers have still not delivered the reform plan Boris Johnson said was ‘prepared’ in 2019 (PA)

Ministers must pledge new funds to support “forgotten” social care workers through a crisis in the sector, a charity has said.

In a survey, 62 per cent of care companies reported mental health-related absences had risen during the coronavirus pandemic, one-tenth higher than a year earlier.

HFT, a learning disability charity, said rising costs had left providers at “crisis point” while their staff were a “forgotten workforce” during the turmoil of Covid-19.