Council racks up 361 per cent rise in social care staff overtime
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Highland Council has racked up a 361 per cent rise in overtime since 2018/19 totalling more than £590,000 laying bare the shortage of staff in the sector and sparking fears of “burnout and exhaustion.”
A Freedom of Information request from the Scottish Conservatives revealed that nationwide the overtime bill hit more than £150 million as total spending surged from £27 million in 2018/19 to £34 million in 2021/22 – a rise of 24 per cent.
In the Highlands the number of staff working overtime rose exponentially over that period – in 2018/19 it was 78; in 2019/20 it was 93; then 113 in 2020/21; in 2021/22 it rose to 156 but last year it shot up to 201.
Amid these rising costs the Scottish Tories have used the figures to call for a U-turn on the proposed National Care Service estimated to cost as much as £1.3billion, which shadow social care minister Craig Hoy insists would exacerbate the problems.
Instead they want the cash that would have gone into the creation of the service to be allocated to local authorities like Highland Council which itself is facing a social care crisis amid a wave of closures of care homes.
Mr Hoy said: “The SNP are presiding over a social care crisis in Scotland. These staggering figures highlight the huge challenges that social care workers are facing, with vacancies across Scotland forcing existing workers to take on more overtime.
“This has huge cost implications for local authorities as well as risking the burnout of overstretched staff.
“Scottish councils are already dealing with savage SNP budget cuts and now Humza Yousaf’s failure to address staff shortages in social care has cost them a staggering £150 million.
“Despite the enormous challenges facing the social care sector – from delayed discharge to exhausted, overworked staff – the SNP have offered no solutions other than their misguided attempt to centralise power through a National Care Service.
“The last thing we need right now is a structural overhaul of the system to create a costly, centralised bureaucracy.
“The SNP should divert the £1.3billion they have earmarked for the National Care Service and give it to Scotland’s underfunded councils to allocate locally.
“Virtually every stakeholder has spoken out against the NCS, so it’s time the SNP ditched this reckless, unaffordable project before even more money is drained away from these vital services.”
