Care homes in Wales could be forced to turn away elderly people with dementia unless ministers act to “fix the visa” for overseas staff.

In a stark warning ahead of the May 7 Senedd election, Care Forum Wales (CFW) says tightening immigration rules and the closure of visa routes are choking off a vital lifeline for the sector.

According to CFW, which represents more than 400 private and third sector care providers, the crisis is deepening because Wales has an ageing population and a shrinking working-age workforce.

The organisation’s election manifesto points out that international recruitment is no longer optional but essential to keep services running, particularly in rural communities.

Domiciliary care companies are also being badly hit with fears that providers lack capacity to look after people in their own homes.

In the manifesto CFW is urging the next Welsh Government to follow Scotland’s lead and take on direct sponsorship of social care visas, creating a stable and ethical route for overseas workers.

Visa applications were already being driven down by negative rhetoric from Westminster, restrictions on dependants and tougher recruitment conditions.

It was also pushing existing overseas workers to consider leaving, exacerbating a chronic workforce shortage that is fuelling delayed hospital discharges and longer NHS waiting times.

But the Scottish Government has stepped in to sponsor overseas care workers left high and dry and facing deportation.

They are providing £500,000 to support international social care workers already in the UK displaced by visa changes to settle and work Scotland.

The funding is used to meet the costs associated with moving and to and working in Scotland’s social care sector, for those who have found themselves without sponsored employment elsewhere in the UK.

CFW chair Mario Kreft MBE rejected claims that care work is “low skilled”, describing overseas staff as highly trained, values-driven professionals who had stepped up during the pandemic and were now a cornerstone of the sector’s frontline.

Mr Kreft said employers had invested heavily in international recruitment  and are required to pay them more than the Real Living Wage paid to domestic staff, contrary to the belief that they were cheap labour.

The real risk, warned Mr Kreft, was that without a sustainable visa pathway, more homes would be forced to reduce their services or even close , piling even more pressure on the beleaguered NHS.

He said: “International care workers are not a ‘nice to have’ – they are the backbone of many services across Wales. Take them away and the system simply doesn’t function.

“To call care workers low skilled is frankly insulting. Try supporting someone with dementia at 3am or managing complex nursing needs with compassion and professionalism – that takes skill, compassion and heart.

“These are highly committed, highly trained people who stepped up during the pandemic when Wales needed them most. They deserve our respect and our support.

“They are doing a hugely important job keeping our most vulnerable people in a care home or their own homes when many of them would otherwise  be in hospital, leading to even more pressure on the NHS.

“Restrictions on dependants and constant negative messages have created fear and uncertainty. Good people are now thinking twice about coming to Wales – or staying here.

“The next Welsh Government cannot shrug its shoulders and say immigration is nothing to do with us. If social care collapse, it will have a disastrous knock on effect on the NHS.

“Scotland has shown there is another way. Wales needs to follow their lead, take control of sponsorship and send a clear message that care workers are welcome here.

“When social care can’t recruit enough staff, hospital beds fill up. Operations get cancelled. Families are left in limbo.

“There are far too many people peddling the myth that anybody can work in a care home or provide domiciliary care. That’s just absurd because it is a highly skilled profession.

“The other fallacy is that overseas workers are a cheap option when the complete is the case.

“It costs much more to recruit international staff than it does to employ local people. The truth of the matter is that not enough local people are willing to work in social care.

“If we don’t grasp the nettle, the unintended consequences are potentially horrendous.

“If care homes and domiciliary care companies don’t have enough staff, they will either have to reduce the number of people for whom they provide care or shut down completely.

“Things are bad enough now but even more people won’t be able to get into hospital when they need to and down the line it’s something that could cost lives.

“This isn’t just a social care issue – it’s a national crisis.

“We are already seeing providers really struggling financially. Without urgent action from the new Welsh Government, ministers risk presiding over avoidable closures and more bed blocking in Welsh hospitals.”