I got a reply: Thank you for your email of 19 June to the Department of Health about home care. I have been asked to reply. I have noted your comments, and can assure you that ministers recognise the valuable contribution made by many carers who spend a significant amount of time caring for some of the must vulnerable people in our society. The Government is working hard to improve home care services. Ministers know that there are practices in the home care sector that cannot be allowed to continue. These include: - care by the clock, whereby care workers can have as little as 15 minutes to provide care to someone. All too often, this results in rushed, poor quality care or even missed visits. Users of services can be left waiting to get into or out of bed, to get washed, to eat and drink or take their medication, whilst care workers can become stressed and demotivated; - abuse of minimum wage laws, so care workers earn less than the National Minimum Wage due to their not being paid for travel time between calls; and - a constant turnover of care workers, meaning users of services can find themselves receiving intimate care from a stranger. New staff may not always be aware of an older or disabled person’s needs. This is not the kind of care that people deserve, and Ministers are keen to address these issues. On 13 June, Norman Lamb, the Minister of State for Care and Support, accompanied home care staff on their rounds to see for himself the daily reality of their work. Later that day, he chaired a Homecare Summit, which the Department arranged in conjunction with The Guardian. The Summit, which was attended by leaders in home care, focused on how to tackle and change those aspects of the system that incentivise poor care, low wages and neglect. The Summit examined case studies of poor practice from a variety of sources, including the Equalities and Human Rights Commission Report into homecare that was published in November 2011. It aimed to identify the problems in each case, the changes needed, and how to overcome any barriers that may exist to making those changes. The Government’s plans to improve homecare are part of a wider programme of work to reform standards in social care, including: - a new, dedicated Chief Inspector for Social Care, with full powers to eradicate abuse and hold local authorities to account should they commission services in ways that result in poor care; - improved minimum training standards to define the minimum levels of expertise that social care workers must have, irrespective of their job role, and a Code of Conduct to describe the standards of conduct, behaviour and attitudes that people should be able to expect from care workers; - a system of quality ratings that will help people make informed decisions when choosing home care and care homes, helped by a new website that allows the public and users of services to review and comment on the performance of care providers; and, - a major commitment by the Department of Health and 12 national health and care leaders to improve coordination and break down the current barriers to integrated and effective health and care services, so that they focus on the needs of individuals, their families and carers. This work began last month. Once again, thank you for contacting the Department of Health. I hope this reply is helpful.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 16:09:43 +0000