Staffing shortages disrupted some Swedish eldercare services over summer

Socialstyrelsen surveyed 86 municipalities about staffing and service delivery in eldercare over the summer. The findings are based on municipal responses and describe reported shortages and operational effects; the source does not provide details on the survey response rate or methods beyond the number of responding municipalities.

Among respondents, 35% reported a small shortage of care and support staff, 17% a fairly large shortage and 6% a very large shortage. Nurse shortages were also reported: 29% described a small shortage and 18% a fairly large one. Shortages were especially pronounced in northern Sweden, where nearly all responding managers reported a shortage and almost half of municipalities rated it fairly or very large.

Managers reported that service tasks such as cleaning were cancelled, postponed or provided less often in 34% of cases; physical or social activities were affected in 28%, and personal care such as showers or supervision in 22%. More than half said that increased numbers of older people and/or greater care needs after hospital discharge had negatively affected operations. The findings are self-reported and do not establish effects on health outcomes. Municipalities described responses including agency staffing, overtime and earlier recruitment of summer workers.