GMB has responded to a report suggesting the care sector could face extra pressure from the ‘unmet need’ of people who avoided such services during the first and second waves of the pandemic.
The King’s Fund said new requests for support from older people to local authorities in England dropped from by 2019/20 to 2020/21 - likely because people avoided contact with formal care services in the pandemic.
Rachel Harrison, GMB National Officer, said:
"The social care workforce continues to be left behind in terms of pay and conditions.
"After two years of extreme pressures on the front line of covid, minimum rates of pay just don't cut it.
"Social care workers have left the sector; many more are continuing to leave for jobs in other sectors that pay more, for a lot less responsibility.
"If the Government is serious about solving the problem of social care, we need workforce investment that includes sick pay and a minimum £15 per hour."
