Marie Curie responds to Unison Survey which revealed Care home residents ‘dying alone amid dangerously low staffing levels’

Mark Jackson Marie Curie Policy Manager for England said:
It is utterly devastating to hear the experiences of people alone, without their loved ones or even somebody at their side in their last moments. Sadly, this is not surprising. The social care workforce has been stretched to breaking point - there are more than a million fewer people working in social care than we need, with staff turnover of more than 40% every year. Simply put, the sector is haemorrhaging experienced staff year after year.

As the UK's population ages, we will need more social care workers, not fewer. You cannot provide good quality care on the cheap; recently announced changes to how people pay for social care will not fix the sector's workforce crisis or the other issues it faces. Much more far-reaching reform is needed, including to the working conditions of a workforce beset by low pay and zero-hours contracts, to ensure qualified people want to come into social care and stay there in future. If ever there was a wake-up call, this shocking story is surely it.