Essex County Council is set to spend £2.5million on helping care homes tackle acute staffing shortages.

The decision to spend £100 per bed the county council commissions comes amid heightened anxiety the care sector is struggling.

The decision has been described as ‘urgent’ and arrangements need to be put in place quickly ‘to support care providers who are experiencing a challenging time’.

A forward plan decision statement said: “The decision relates to the award of money to care homes to help them deal with the current staffing difficulties they are experiencing.

“It is proposed to pay all care homes from which ECC commissions care a sum of £100 per bed.

“This is likely to cost around £2.5m.

“Payment will be subject to compliance with the terms of a grant agreement which will require the money to be spent on specified activities or returned to ECC.”

The National Care Association has said that following the challenges of Covid-19, the care sector continues to battle issues on a number of fronts.

It says that Brexit and the ongoing implications of the pandemic, such as mandatory vaccinations, have contributed to severe staff shortages leading to care home operators having to manage an increasingly strained workforce while ensuring compliance with CQC regulations.

It adds that nationally social care is 120,000 people short and has called on the Government to issue temporary visas to stabilise the market so it can in part keep people out of hospital.

“Let’s get temporary visa’s for the migrant workforce who left post Brexit or due to Covid and got lost in the system. We need them now … we know it can be done, so let’s do it.” it said on social media.

ECC’s own social care director has admitted care workers can earn more ‘picking pears’ and is calling for action on the ‘unsustainable’ situation.

Mr Presmeg told the Essex Health and Wellbeing Board in September that the key to the stabilising the care market is to bring together hospital, community and mental health trusts, GPs and other primary care services with local authorities and other care providers under an integrated care system.

Workers poor pay is believed to be contributing to a turnover rate that is more than double the national average.

Speaking in the meeting, he said: “The care market is very stressed and very stretched – you can earn more money picking pears than you can providing domiciliary care.

“If you work 40 hours a week you will earn £17,000 and you will have travel costs. That is not sustainable.”

Yesterday Essex County Council announced that introducing a real living wage policy for care workers in Essex could cost an extra £15m – as it grapples with encouraging more to become care workers.

Cabinet member for adult social care, Councillor John Spence, has started the process of beginning how Essex County Council might fund such a wage commitment which could be paid for in next year’s budget.