Urgent action needed to care work ‘mental health crisis’

A survey of 1,200 social care workers has found that three quarters report pandemic work has caused worsened mental health and sharp increase in anxiety.

GMB, the care workers’ union, has warned of a looming care workers’ crisis and stressed that the government and employers must step up and address the mental health crisis in social care.

Conducted between December and January, the survey found that 75 per cent of care workers say that their work during the pandemic has had a serious negative impact on their mental health, and, particularly, that care workers’ mental health declined throughout the second wave.

Some groups of care workers were more likely to report poor mental health: women, disabled, residential, and care workers who were only entitled to statutory sick pay all reported lower mental health scores.

GMB also points to research carried out before the pandemic which found that care workers are at a significantly higher risk of dying by suicide. The union said that low pay, insecure working, and inadequate sick pay were all contributing factors to poor mental health in the sector.

Rachel Harrison, GMB National Officer for care, said: “Care workers have been asked to make incredible sacrifices during the pandemic, and these sobering figures demonstrate the urgent need for better support. Members describe having to nurse much loved residents as they died from this terrible disease, while all the while worrying about their own safety and how they were going to pay the bills.

“Our care members are dedicated, compassionate professionals but everyone has their breaking point. For too many, the combined effect of poor employment conditions and the pandemic has been too much to bear.

“If any good is to come out of this pandemic then it must include urgent reform of the sector. Ministers and employers need to explain how they are going to care for the people who have cared for us. As a minimum, this must include dedicated national mental health services, a substantial increase in pay, and full sick pay cover so that care workers can afford to self-isolate when they are ill – no-one should be asked to live on £96.35 a week.”

The findings are being released to mark the one year anniversary of the peak in care home residents’ deaths, after 1,300 residents died on Easter Sunday 2020 (of which 495 residents were known to have had coronavirus).