Petrol station owner gives priority fuel access to care workers over 'life or death' risk

A petrol station owner is giving priority fuel access to care workers, after the petrol crisis left care staff desperate to fuel their cars to avoid missing home care visits with people who cannot get out of bed, feed themselves or go to the toilet on their own.

While some care workers considered staying overnight with people needing home care as petrol station forecourts ran empty on fuel, the owner of a BP Royal Garage in Huthwaite has agreed to give a priority service to NHS and social care workers after he was approached by home care provider Your Home Care.

Petrol station owner: 'Home care workers need to get to work'

Sivapalan Krishanand (aka Kris) has agreed to offer exclusive time slots to health and social care workers between 6am-7am and 9.30pm-10.30pm every day until the fuel crisis subsides. Care workers will need to show ID badges before they can buy the fuel.

Krishanand said: “I am pleased to be able to help. Home care workers need to get to work and so this is our small way of helping out.”

Scott Marsh, co-founder and director at Your Home Care, said: “We tried to reach out to local fuel stations in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire but didn’t have much luck.

“Kris has kindly agreed to have dedicated slots for the health and social care workforce including our home care assistants.

“There’s also an additional tanker that he’s ordered to make sure that health and social care workforce get the fuel that they need to do their dedicated jobs as key workers here in Nottinghamshire.”

Media coverage of a shortage of lorry drivers on Friday 24 September sparked panic buying of fuel amongst the public and long queues at fuel station forecourts across the country.

One home care worker who has not been so lucky to live nearby, has posted on Twitter: “I've enough fuel for 2 days of home visits. What next, when I can't get more fuel, in a remote and rural community?!

"People not able to get out of bed, lying in urine & faeces, not being fed, not getting essential medications.”

Carers missing breaks and ‘working later’

Shaleeza Hasham, head of hospitality and communications at CHD Care at Home, which has four home care branches in Surrey and Hampshire, said: "The impact of the fuel shortage on our domiciliary care business has been enormous, especially as we operate in some very remote areas.

“Currently, many of our carers are unable to get enough fuel to make their rounds as most petrol stations are limiting them to £30. Carers can do up to 100 miles per day so these restrictions mean that they are having to fuel up more often as they cannot fill their tanks.

“Traffic is becoming harder to get through too, with lengthy queues causing significant delays. At our South Surrey branch, for example, delays are causing rounds to be pushed back at least 30 minutes with carers missing breaks and working later to ensure all clients are seen.

“As a provider of home care we look after extremely vulnerable individuals, some of whom cannot even get out of bed without support or assistance, the situation is proving extremely difficult and stressful. Being unable to get to clients who depend on us just isn’t an option."

CHD Care at Home welcomes calls by care providers for key workers to be prioritised for fuel.

Ms Hasham said: “To minimise the impact as shortages continue, we would highly support NHS and key workers being given priority for fuel. Otherwise, the impact could be disastrous on the essential services we deliver."

‘It’s a matter of life and death’ says Homecare Association chief

Jane Townson, chief executive of the Homecare Association has said some care workers have been unable to give end of life care to the terminally ill due to difficulties getting petrol. She has also highlighted that care worker ID is an issue, with some care workers “being turned away even with an employer’s letter".

Dr Townson said: “We’ve had members trying to deliver end of life care, needing to get there to give time critical pain medication.

"We can’t understand why it’s so difficult for government to ask fuel retailers to give home care workers priority.”

Writing in an article for The Times (published Wednesday 29 September), Dr Townson wrote: “For five days now, more than 670,000 homecare workers across the country have struggled through traffic jams, waited hours in queues, and driven miles to obtain fuel.

"For them, this is not merely a matter of inconvenience, it’s a matter of life and death.”

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