Care chief calls on government to invest extra £1.7bn per year to save 'struggling' sector

The Homecare Association is calling for the government to invest an extra £1.7 billion per annum in the care sector to stop the “exodus” of care workers finding better paid jobs.

Research from the Homecare Association shows the average price being paid by public organisations for home care in England after 1 April 2022 has remained below the cost of recruiting and retaining a skilled workforce and delivering high-quality, sustainable services.

The average fee rate paid for home care in England by local authorities was £19.01 per hour while the average fee rate paid for home care in England by the NHS was £18.76 per hour. Both figures fall well below the Homecare Association’s minimum price for home care for 2022-23 of £23.20 per hour.

Homecare Association’s chief executive Dr Jane Townson said: "These low fee rates from councils and the NHS lead directly to home care workers experiencing poor pay and terms and conditions of employment. It’s hardly surprising there is an exodus of home care workers, as fuel prices remain high, and they are struggling to pay their household bills.

“Without investment from the government, the social care workforce will continue to shrink at a time of rising need. Older and disabled people are already having to sit on council waiting lists, unable to receive the care they need.

“NHS trusts are struggling to ensure rapid ambulance response times and to reduce waiting lists, as discharge from hospital is hampered by inadequate capacity in social care and community services.”

'We need adequate funding for home care'

The Homecare Association is clear that the legal minimum wage (£9.50 per hour) is inadequate for this skilled work and home care workers must be paid wages at least equivalent to Band 3 NHS healthcare assistants (£11.85 per hour).

The report also shows seven councils were paying below even direct staff costs, calculated at £16.57 per hour. This would not cover other necessary operating costs.

Direct staff costs consist of pay at £9.50 per hour (National Living Wage, national insurance and pension, and other wage-related on-costs (such as holiday and sickness pay, travel and mileage).

Excluding Greater London, there was evidence of a north/south divide among councils in the research. The north east average was £1.36 per hour below the average for all of England.

The association warns that at a time of spiralling costs, many employers are simply unable to increase pay for care workers due to the low fees rates paid by councils and the NHS.

Ms Townson added: “We need adequate funding for home care, so we can enable people to live well at home, extend healthy life expectancy, reduce inequalities, take pressure off the NHS and reduce costs for the health and care system.”

Around 70 per cent of home care is purchased by the public sector, so central government funding for social care has a direct impact on the fee rates that councils and the NHS pay.

In turn, these fee rates and the way home care is commissioned and purchased, determine pay and terms and conditions of employment of the care workforce.

Skills for Care reported a decrease in filled posts of 50,000 in the social care workforce in 2021/22 compared with 2020/21 with home care vacancy rates reaching nearly 15 per cent this year, the highest ever recorded.

The report warned if the social care workforce grows proportionally to the projected number of people aged 65 and over then the number of posts will need to increase by around 480,000 posts to around 2.27 million by 2035.