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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Guardian community team

Tell us how you are being affected by UK social care shortages

The social care workforce has shrunk for the first time in almost a decade
The social care workforce has shrunk for the first time in almost a decade Photograph: Daisy-Daisy/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Patients who are fit to be discharged occupy up to one in three hospital beds in some parts of England due to chronic shortages in social care provision.

There are about 165,000 care job vacancies, according to figures from Skills for Care published last month, which also showed that the social care workforce had shrunk for the first time in close to a decade despite rising demand.

We would like to speak to people working in social care and those affected by the longstanding lack of care. If you’re working in this area, what is the situation like in care homes and for care in the community? What are your main areas of concern? How are you or your loved ones being affected by the shortages?

We are also interested in speaking to bed managers in hospital wards.

Share your experiences

We will only use the data you provide us for the purpose of the feature. We will delete any personal data when we no longer require it for this purpose. For more information please see our terms of service and privacy policy.

If you are 18 years or over, you can get in touch by filling in the form below or contacting us via WhatsApp by clicking here or adding +44(0)7766780300. Your responses are secure as the form is encrypted and only the Guardian has access to your contributions. One of our journalists will be in contact before we publish, so please do leave contact details.

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