Carer shortage leaves Wrexham man, 89, stuck in hospital

The wife of a man with dementia says he has been left "stranded" in hospital due to a lack of carers.

Ronald Taylor, 89, was admitted to Wrexham Maelor Hospital five weeks ago but has not been given a date to come home.

His wife, Gwyneth, said she had adapted their home, but needed help to get him in and out of bed, and had been told there were no carers available.

Wrexham council said it was dealing with a severe shortage of carers.

The authority, which is responsible for community care, said it was working hard to try and maintain levels of care in the county while trying to recruit more staff.

It comes as Care Forum Wales warned issues with recruiting and retaining staff during the coronavirus pandemic was leaving the sector struggling to help people across Wales.

Mrs Taylor said her husband had first been admitted to hospital in May after having a fall before being discharged into a care home.

However, he was readmitted in July after becoming distressed.

She said she had made adaptations to their house and was ready for him to come home, but doctors had told her he could not leave until care arrangements were in place.

"I've got everything here I need to look after him physically, but I need carers to come in, probably twice a day, to get him up in the morning, washed, dressed and then reverse that in the evening," she said.

"He can sit in the chair in the day and be with his family but, because there aren't any carers, he's stranded."

Mrs Taylor said she felt his condition was not being helped by being kept in a hospital bed and wanted him to come home.

"He doesn't interact with the other men in the ward, I take him newspapers to read and fruit to eat, but it's boring for him," she said.

"He's blocking a bed that I feel a sick person with a prospect of a cure could be using."

Mary Winbury of Care Forum Wales, which represents about 500 care agencies and providers, said there had always been issues recruiting staff, but this had been exasperated by the pandemic.

She said that, while most restrictions had eased, carers were still wearing full PPE and were under huge pressures to try and keep vulnerable people safe.

Earlier this year, families in Swansea were asked to help carry out more nursing duties to prevent services reaching breaking point.

Care Inspectorate Wales recently warned more people could end up in care homes sooner than needed, unless more was done to boost the number of home carers.

Man, 89, stuck in hospital due to carer shortage

Ms Winbury said the pressure from Covid, plus Brexit, had led to a "perfect storm".

"We are really on the edge in terms of being able to provide the care that people across Wales need," she said.

"Everything has come together, plus Brexit, which means some people have left the labour market in this country."