Home care chief calls for home care to be 'centre stage' in government's fight against COVID-19

Jane Townson, chief executive of UKHCA, which represents home care companies, is calling for home care to be “centre stage” in the government’s battle to contain the coronavirus.

She argues that home care often prevents “unnecessary admission” to care homes and hospitals as it enables to people to stay living well and independently at home.

Consequently she says preventing these unnecessary admissions “should be a priority” and “supporting people at home, as far as possible, would be an intelligent and cost-effective strategy for the nation’s health and well-being”. However she says: “Instead, the opposite is happening. The majority of public and private funding, as well as media attention, is focused on hospitals and care homes, which between them support only 0.5 million people at a time.

“In contrast, over 10 million people at any one time receive or need support and care in their own homes, either from unpaid informal carers or paid-for home care workers.

“Over £152 billion of public funding is directed at the NHS, with only £6.2 billion to home care, across the UK. So government spend on home care is only 4 per cent that of the NHS.”

Caring for people at home 'could help reduce spread of coronavirus'

She believes that right now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, “home care needs to be centre stage in a national social and healthcare strategy, where care homes and hospital are seen as a last resort”.

Home care providers are under huge pressures financially as the pandemic has led to some people needing care cancelling calls due to fear of infection and they are having to pay out for PPE as well which has seen ‘rampant price inflation’ according to UKHCA.

Government PPE guidance states that fluid repellent face masks and eye protection are required for almost every home care visit. Each day across the UK, the UKHCA estimates there are over 1.5 million home care visits.

It says that some smaller providers are facing additional monthly costs of face masks of £13,000, when previously they would have had close to zero cost for these items. They will also have less purchasing power than the larger providers as they won’t be able to bulk buy.

Government urged to stop face masks being sold for inflated prices

Steve Robinson, chief executive of Pramacare based in Poole, which has 200 home care workers has called on the government to set a maximum limit on the price of face masks used by healthcare professionals.

He said: “In representing a care sector made up of many and diverse providers, we are seeing our costs increase by around £1,500 every week just to deliver the core care services to many older people across the area.

“I am, of course, tremendously grateful for the local community, who have come together and have already given support in so many ways, but I also need to ensure that my team have face masks that comply with the proper standards, and these have rocketed in price as people try to profiteer from other people’s health needs.

Face masks have been selling for as much as £12 each

“Masks, which were a couple of months ago only a few pence each to purchase, at one point have been selling for £12 each. That is for a mask that can only be worn for one session”.

He appreciates that most supplies come from abroad but believes that national governments dictating to the market will drive costs back down to their pre-crisis levels.

“Prama is fortunate in that we had the foresight to have a reasonable stock of masks to get us so far but the last of these were distributed to staff in April and so, as a charity with limited resources, we need to find a reliable and cheap supply of masks at a price that we, and other providers, can afford.”

The UKHCA revealed that at the end of March, staff absence in home care agencies due to the need to self-isolate, shielding and illness was averaging at 25 per cent. Funding sick pay for these staff is another financial drain on providers and they will have to pay another care worker to cover the home care visit.

“National and local government need to act swiftly to ensure extra funds reach home care providers, to prevent multiple provider failure within eight to 12 weeks,” said Jane Townson, UKHCA’s chief executive.

Stop seeing care homes as the only 'default option'

Oliver Stirk, managing director of Carefound Home Care echoes the sentiments of UKHCA in wanting home care to be seen as key in caring for people during the pandemic. He is calling for hospital discharge teams, NHS trusts and social services teams to stop just seeing care homes as the default option for older people requiring care and support.

“Often this is due to a lack of understanding of care at home and an absence of any formal way of seeing immediate capacity amongst local home care providers,” he said.

“Care homes will always be a crucial part of our social care service in the UK, but it is now more important than ever that we use our care at home industry to protect our elderly population.”

He highlights live-in care as being particularly safe during the current pandemic adding “live-in care in particular is still relatively unknown in this country but is likely to be the safest way to protect a vulnerable person since it only involves the support of a single or pair of rotating live-in carers.”