Understanding the financial impact of COVID-19 on the UK care home sector - implications for businesses and the workforce

该项目探讨了COVID-19对养老院行业的影响，包括对劳动力和用户的影响，同时评估其财务可行性，以及恢复和弹性的要求。英国依赖于主要由私人拥有的养老院行业的财务可持续性，该行业照顾超过40万老年人。在疫情爆发前，竞争与市场管理局2017年报告强调了该行业的财务脆弱性。很明显，COVID-19加剧了养老院的财务压力，可能导致高度破坏性的关闭。尽管人们越来越了解COVID-19给养老院行业带来的额外成本，但对整个行业以及不同类型组织的财务可持续性的影响缺乏了解（例如大型连锁店、慈善机构、家庭经营的养老院）。然而，如果决策者要设计有效的干预措施，以确保护理之家的稳定性，保持安全的护理标准并提供优质服务，那么他们必须了解这些财务影响。这项新的研究将补充ESRC可持续护理计划进行的其他相关研究所进行的护理成本分析。根据护理技能慈善机构制作的2019年报告，60万多名护理院劳动力的特点是工资低，员工流动率高和空缺率高，以及依赖移民劳动力。鉴于疫情前招聘及挽留护理院员工的困难，政策制定者亦需要了解及解决COVID-19对员工体验及挽留员工的财务影响。

This project addresses the impact of COVID-19's on the care home sector including the consequence for the workforce and users while assessing its financial viability, as well as requirements for recovery and resilience.The UK depends on the financial sustainability of the mainly privately-owned care home sector, which cares for over 400,000 older people. Prior to the pandemic, the Competition and Markets Authority 2017 report highlighted the financial fragility of the sector. It is clear that COVID-19 has exacerbated financial pressures on care homes, potentially leading to highly disruptive closures.Although there is a growing understanding of the additional costs to the care home sector attributable to COVID-19, there is a lack of knowledge about the implications for the financial sustainability of the sector as a whole, as well as for different types of organisation (e.g. large chains, charities, family-run care homes). Yet, it is essential for policy makers to comprehend these financial impacts if they are to design effective interventions to ensure the stability of care home provision, maintain safe standards of care and deliver good quality services. This new research will complement the analysis of care costs being undertaken by other relevant research conducted by the ESRC Sustainable Care programme.According to the 2019 report produced by the Skills for Care charity, the 600,000-strong care home workforce is characterised by low pay, high staff turnover and vacancy rates, and reliance on migrant labour. Given the difficulties in recruiting and retaining care home workers prior to the pandemic, policy makers also need to understand and address the financial impact of COVID-19 on staff experiences and efforts to retain staff.