From a health crisis to a labour crisis? Omicron, Brexit and labour shortages
A new blog post had been published by the ESRC funded ‘Labour mobility in transition: a multi-actor study of the re-regulation of migrant work in 'low-skilled' sectors’ (LIMITS) project team.
A new blog post had been published by the ESRC funded ‘Labour mobility in transition: a multi-actor study of the re-regulation of migrant work in 'low-skilled' sectors’ (LIMITS) project team – by Dr Gabriella Alberti, Professor Chris Forde, Dr Gary Graham, Dr Ioulia Bessa, Dr Jo Cutter, Dr Zinovijus Ciupijus and Dr Marketa Dolezalova.
The new wave of Covid-19 under Omicron is proving to be another massive challenge for frontline health services.
The Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor, has highlighted a crisis on multiple fronts in the NHS, with a mix of rapidly increasing demand for emergency services, backlogs for operations and huge levels of staff absence creating massive pressures. Even the Prime Minister has admitted that the NHS is in danger of being overwhelmed. The COVID-19 health crisis is once again highlighting and generating a crisis of labour provision.
Staff shortages across the health sector - from hospitals to social care – have been highlighted throughout the pandemic, for example in the 2020 State of Adult social care report. In Autumn 2021, GPs threatened to go on strike over workload challenges during the second vaccination effort.
Now, as Omicron spreads exponentially in the community, NHS providers declare they are at a crisis point not having sufficient staff to care for Covid and non-Covid patients. With the Government estimating that up to 25% of the workforce is expected to have to self-isolate in the next few weeks staffing pressures are likely to get even worse before they get better.
