Two care home owners say they would be unable to cope without the help of foreign staff.
Lakshmy and Philip Pengelly, who own Ashley Court Care Home in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, said they had been forced to cut occupancy at their home because of staffing issues – until they began to recruit overseas workers.
In an election, poised to scrutinise immigration figures, many in the care sector say they are becoming increasingly reliant on workers from countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Nigeria.
In 2022 the UK government opened skilled worker visas to overseas care workers, in a bid to tackle record staff shortage in the care sector.
It meant care home workers such as Mr and Mrs Pengelly could sponsor foreign workers and bring them to the UK.
“Before when we were putting job adverts out, we’d have little to no applicants coming through,” said Mrs Pengelly.
“At one point we had to stop taking admissions. We just capped [the beds] because we just simply didn’t have the staff.”
