By Richard Johnstone | 7 October 2013
The government has been urged to ban councils from commissioning 15-minute care visits after a Freedom of Information request found their use was increasing, despite concerns that necessary support cannot be provided in that time.
An investigation by the Leonard Cheshire Disability charity found two-thirds of councils were commissioning 15-minute home visits by care workers. The charity also found that, over the past five years, the proportion of visits of 15 minutes or less, had risen by 15%. Some local authorities have been commissioning as much as three-quarters of all home care visits in 15-minute slots, the charity warned.
Today’s Ending 15-minute care report said the ‘indignity’ of these short visits was forcing people to choose what care was provided, such as whether to be given a drink or help to go to the toilet.
The report is published just ahead of the House of Lords report stage debate on the government’s Care Bill, due on Wednesday.
Leonard Cheshire chief executive Clare Pelham called on peers to back an amendment to make 30-minute care visits the minimum that could be commissioned by councils.
‘Most of us need 40 minutes to get up, get washed and dressed and have breakfast in the morning. None of us would want our family and friends to receive “care” visits as short as 15 minutes,’ she said.
‘We should demand better from our councillors and remind them that disabled people are real people with real feelings and should be treated as they themselves would wish to be treated – with kindness, with care and with respect.’
Responding to the report, the Local Government Association said that – although 15-minute visits were not the sole basis for care provision – in some circumstances, such as administering medication, they could be appropriate.
Katie Hall, chair of the LGA's community wellbeing board, said ‘significant cuts to council funding mean local authorities are struggling to meet the rising demand for home care visits’.
It would be impossible to substantially improve the standards of care on a nationwide basis without putting more money into the system, she added.
‘Unless local government finance is put on a sustainable footing, social care will remain substantially underfunded and services will suffer as a result.
‘Helping the old and vulnerable to maintain their independence and dignity is a vitally important job and councils have worked very hard to protect social care services from the full impact of cuts. However, the shortage of funding is being exacerbated by increasing demand and councils need an extra £400m each year just to maintain services at current levels.’
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services said it was wrong to believe that all care tasks needed more than 15 minutes to perform.
Adass president Sandie Keene stated: ‘[It is] frankly naïve to believe that simply by abolishing 15-minute slots a magic wand will have been waved, and improvements automatically achieved in our care services.’
