New campaign launched calling for fairness for all in independent homecare in Northern Ireland

The Independent Health & Care Providers (IHCP) have teamed up with the United Kingdom Homecare Association to launch the ‘15’ campaign which is dedicated to ending 15-minute visits and fee rates of £15 per hour, which they say leads to ‘unacceptably low pay rates for homecare workers in Northern Ireland. ’

According to the IHCP, Northern Ireland currently has the highest level of 15-minute visits in the UK with over 30 per cent in Northern Ireland compared with 3.5 per cent in England.

The group say that this simply isn’t enough time to spend with older people in terms of providing adequate care.

The campaign also calls for an end to £15 per hour rates for homecare in Northern Ireland in order to ensure stability for the sector with fair contracts and fair rates.

The plea from the IHCP, is in response to what they describe as ‘the woefully inadequate’ 34 pence increase to the hourly homecare rate announced by four of the five Health Trusts in Northern Ireland.

According to the group, this increase means most homecare workers are paid at or just above the National Living Wage, despite the demands thrust upon them in their work.

The CEO of IHCP, Pauline Shepherd, said: “After the announcements of these unacceptable increases to the homecare rates in Northern Ireland, IHCP and UKHCA have jointly decided enough is enough. However well-intentioned these increases may have been, they are nowhere near the amount needed to sustain homecare workers in the current climate. These workers showed extraordinary bravery and resilience throughout the pandemic as they continued to put the needs of others before themselves. We are simply asking for fair contracts and fair rates for work which takes a toll on the workers involved.”

The CEO of UKHCA, Dr Jane Townson, said: “UKHCA calculates that regulated homecare that can afford to pay the UK real living wage would cost at least £22.73 per hour for 2021/22. Northern Ireland’s fee rate is over £7 per hour below the UKHCA Minimum Price to pay care workers the Real Living Wage.

“A cost-saving approach which requires providers to penny-pinch from all of their budget lines when the starting point is already so low is taking risks with the quality and safety of a regulated service. It also risks undermining the ability of providers to improve the working experience of care workers, thereby further destabilising the workforce.

“Councils in England report a planned average hourly rate for homecare in 2021/22 of £18.49. This in itself is around £3 more than the amount offered in Northern Ireland, but still glaringly short of the amount required.

“So, what we are seeing are worrying issues throughout the UK, but most notably for services relied upon by many people and their families in Northern Ireland. Hopefully the Minister for Health does the right thing by intervening and ensuring fairness for all concerned.”

As part of the ‘15’ campaign, IHCP and UKHCA have created an online petition and are calling on support to persuade ‘the Minister for Health and respective Trust CEOs reconsider their position.’

The ‘15’ campaign petition can be found online at the following link: chng.it/7NCS7RC8BP