Home care workers helping borough’s vulnerable residents say 15-minute visits are ‘not long enough to provide good quality care’
05.06.2024 - 07:15
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Care workers in Bury have expressed concerns that 15-minute visits to vulnerable people are not long enough to provide a ‘good level of care’. Bury Council has published a review into its Care at Home service, under which 23 care providers are commissioned to deliver personal care, moving and handling, nutrition and hydration and medication support to mainly elderly people in their own homes.
The council defended some 15-minute visits saying many people using the service prefer not to pay for a longer call when it is not needed. A review of the service, which is budgeted to cost £9.9M over the next year, has been published by Bury Council.
The review highlights a feedback meeting with providers, with some expressing concerns over the length of some visits with carers only given a quarter hour time slot to provide support. The report, said: ” Some providers raised concerns that 15-minute visits are an issue as they are not long enough to provide good quality care and the time people need, especially when they are trying to promote independence.”
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Concerns were also raised that recruitment and retention of staff remained ‘a massive challenge’ in the care sector. Bury Council said it is in the process of putting together a workforce support offer for providers to help with this.
The council said that 15-minute visits were only used in ‘specific circumstances’. A spokesman, said: “The council commissions many hundreds of hours of home care each day, and ensures that each person has calls long enough to meet their needs at that time, which more often than not is 30 minutes or more.
“There are, however, occasions where the call may be shorter than this, for