Independent sector provided 82% of home care in the Western Trust

In total 31,380 domiciliary care hours were provided by the independent sector, according to the newly-published ‘Domiciliary Care Services for Adults in Northern Ireland (2022)’ report which is based on a domiciliary care survey conducted between September 4-10, 2022.

The 30,000 plus hours accounted for 82 per cent of all home care hours provided in the Western Trust during that week.

The statutory sector provided 6,796 domiciliary home care hours (18 per cent) during the same week.

A higher proportion of domiciliary care contact hours were provided by the independent sector in the Western Trust than in any other health authority area with the exception of Belfast where the figure was 85 per cent.

The bulletin also shows that the independent sector carried out 63,299 home care visits while the statutory sector carried out 13,766 during the survey week.

The amount of time carers spent with patients was higher in the Western Trust than in most other areas.

The proportion of 16 to 30 minute visits ranged from 83 per cent in the Western Trust to 40 per cent in the Northern Trust.

The proportion of minutes lasting less than 15 minutes ranged from 54 per cent in the Northern Trust to 5 per cent in the Western Trust.

The Western Trust had a higher average number of domiciliary care contact hours per client provided by the independent sector (11 hours) than the statutory sector (5.7 hours) during the survey week.

£23 million confirmed for care home and home care sector towards better pay and recruitment in Northern Ireland