Home care bosses say staff ‘anxiety’ over fuel costs is making them quit
LONDON: No less than 95 per cent of home care providers say their staff have ‘expressed anxiety’ about rises in the cost of living, with more than a fifth (21 per cent) admitting workers were quitting or looking for alternative work because they cannot afford to put fuel in their cars.
A UK-wide poll of 627 home care bosses (state-funded and private funded), conducted between 11-21 March, reveals 82 per cent believe their staff are most concerned about rising fuel costs or energy bills, while half say care workers have asked for an increase in the mileage rate.
Home care workers in the UK are estimated to collectively travel more than 4 million miles per day. There is estimated to be 1.5 million home care visits a day – with an average 2.9 miles travelled per visit.
One home care boss said: “We have had a mixture asking for an increase, looking to leave, and have already had resignations. The resignations equate to 10% of our workforce.”
“Fuel and food are what carers are noticing now” said another home care provider.
“A lot of carers live month to month, they will not feel the effect of the upcoming increases to council tax, [the] new energy cap starting and NI increase until it hits them. It is going to be a very tough few months for carers and, after the last 2 years, I am not sure how they will react/cope.”
Most home care workers use their own cars or public transport for work but in rural areas, the Homecare Association says public transport is ‘not a viable option for homecare delivery’.
Many care workers are unable to afford newer fuel-efficient vehicles, which means they must pay emissions or clean air charges in cities. In London, for example, the Ultra Low Emission Zone daily charge is £12.50 for cars.
One provider said it was “struggling” as carers are refusing to go into some areas with their cars.
Dr Jane Townson, chief executive of the Homecare Association, which represents over 2,300 providers, said rising living costs “are likely to have a disproportionate impact on those with lower income and less secure employment, such as homecare workers”.
A North-South divide in England has emerged from the poll results, with 83 per cent of providers in the North East paying mileage rates of 30p per mile or less, compared to only 39 per cent in the South West.
The association has evidence that ‘many homecare workers receive only 10p per mile’ and only two per cent of providers who responded to the poll were paying above 45p per mile. This contrasts with some NHS trusts, which are now paying community staff 54p per mile.
The care leader said home care employers in the self-funded part of the home care sector have ‘more flexibility’ to increase charges to clients to increase baseline care worker pay and cover mileage costs. However, the association said providers in the state-funded part of the sector have ‘little room for manoeuvre’ as they are operating with increasingly tight margins.
The average hourly pay rate in private-pay providers is £11.10 per hour. That’s 14 per cent higher than in state-funded providers where it is £9.78 per hour.
The association reveals average fee rates for state-funded home care in 2021/22 were £18.57 per hour, compared with £24.94 per hour for self-funded home care.
Dr Townson added: “The government has allocated insufficient funding to homecare to ensure quality and sustainability of services, preferring to support the NHS instead. This is short-sighted, especially as the NHS is citing collapse of homecare services in some areas as a key cause of delayed discharges from hospital.”
Some 92 per cent of providers are concerned about the impact of rising fuel costs on the financial viability of their company. They say home care clients paying for their own care will be unwilling or unable to bear increases in charges, as they themselves are also experiencing rising living costs.
Some home care bosses want to see the government help with subsidised car tax, MOTs, car insurance and even driving lessons to encourage more care workers to work in the care sector.
One home care provider revealed it is introducing a salary sacrifice scheme to help its workforce get into a brand new electric vehicle, This is deducted each month from their gross pay, therefore saving them on tax and national insurance.
The Homecare Association wants the government to give temporary grant funding as a fuel allowance to cover the rising costs of fuel for cars used to deliver home care. It also calls for short-term funding to cover emissions charges in cities and to support the lease or purchase of electric vehicles for home care workers.
Dr Townson says enough funding must also be given to ensure local authority care fee rates cover costs and care workers receive “fair remuneration”, including for work-related expenses such as mileage.
