UK healthcare system cannot sustain itself with hiring pipelines frozen and absenteeism surging

New data from Deputy, the global people platform for hourly work, reveals that the UK’s healthcare workforce is facing mounting pressure from hiring freezes and rising absenteeism.

Hiring at care facilities and in-home care providers has plummeted 56% year-on-year (YoY) while absenteeism has surged over 350% YoY – far outpacing sectors including services (24%) and retail (11%).

The findings, drawn from Deputy’s platform of over 1.5mn shift workers, land as the UK government continues to debate immigration policy including caps on overseas workers — raising urgent questions about the future of staffing in critical industries like healthcare.

Hiring collapsed from July 2024 to July 2025, the number of new hires at UK healthcare facilities dropped by 56%, despite rising demand for services.

Absenteeism soared between May to July 2025, the number of rostered shifts worked in care facilities nosedived by 10% to 85%, representing a 296% increase in absenteeism YoY.

The workforce is on the brink as existing staff filled the gap fuelled by surging absenteeism and hiring declines, average timesheet hours soared by 43% in a single year.

The collapse in hiring comes as immigration policy dominates the political agenda. With restrictions tightening on overseas care workers, employers face shrinking talent pools. Care providers who once relied on international recruitment to fill critical shortages are now battling higher turnover and fewer new hires, compounding strain on the system.

Industry experts warn that limiting skilled migration risks worsening workforce gaps at a time when demand for healthcare services is rising with an ageing population.

Speaking on the findings, Emma Seymour, CFO at Deputy said, “The UK’s healthcare workforce is showing remarkable resilience in the face of mounting pressures.

“But with hiring pipelines frozen and absenteeism surging, the system cannot sustain itself without action. Immigration has long played a vital role in filling staffing gaps, and any policy that restricts access to skilled overseas carers risks leaving patients without the support they need.

The commitment of our carers is clear — now the system around them must provide stability, whether through immigration policy, workforce planning, or fairer rostering practices. A resilient workforce is the foundation of resilient care.”