‘The people told they are not welcome may be the people the UK needs most’
Kari Gerstheimer, CEO and founder of Access Social Care writing in Labourlist 22nd June 2026.
Screenshot of Kari’s quote in Labour List
In her recent article for LabourList, Access Social Care CEO Kari Gerstheimer argues that the debate around immigration and social care cannot ignore the reality of the workforce crisis facing the sector.
You can read the full article here
As Kari explains, social care relies on hundreds of thousands of dedicated workers to help people live independently, safely and with dignity. While building a stronger domestic workforce is essential, restricting international recruitment without first addressing the longstanding challenges of pay, conditions and investment risks leaving even more people without the care they need.
At Access Social Care, we see every day the consequences of an overstretched system. Delayed assessments, reduced care packages and increasing unmet need are not simply the result of funding pressures – they are also driven by chronic workforce shortages that make it harder for people to access the support they are legally entitled to.
The conversation about immigration must be grounded in the realities of social care. Until there is a sustainable workforce strategy that values care work, improves pay and conditions, and ensures enough people are available to provide care, changes to immigration policy risk making an already fragile system even more difficult for disabled people, older people and unpaid carers.
Read the full article here: https://labourlist.org/2026/06/immigration-and-social-care/