06.07.12
Homecare risks elderly dignity - UK Homecare Association
Elderly people’s dignity, and even their safety, could be at risk due to unreasonably short time limits on care at home, new research suggests.
The UK Homecare Association found that an estimated 75% of councils expected carers to complete visits in less than half an hour, with 10% imposing 15-minute limits. 739 companies providing care services responded to the survey, representing 90% of all local authority areas.
Care professionals help elderly people with everyday tasks that they can no longer manage on their own, such as dressing, washing and heating up meals. But the short time limits are in danger of affecting people’s dignity and even safety, respondents reported.
A third of companies had issued formal warnings to councils that the time limits were risking dignity when personal care was being administered.
UK Homecare Association chief executive, Bridget Warr, said: “We need to consign visit times that risk the dignity and safety of elderly and vulnerable people to the past.”
Care services minister, Paul Burstow, said: “Commissioning care by the minute is unacceptable. The focus must always be on providing high quality, timely and dignified care – not on the time it takes to deliver it.”
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