The care visits that still last just 15 minutes
Two years after councils were told to stop cutting corners...
THOUSANDS of elderly and vulnerable patients are still enduring 15-minute ‘flying’ care visits – two years after they were supposed to have been outlawed.
Hundreds of councils have been commissioning the slots in defiance of government warnings that they are an ‘assault on dignity’, a survey reveals.
Carers say they are so rushed they have no time to offer any companionship to elderly residents, who won’t see anyone else that day. And many 15-minute visits are shortened further because staff must allow time to travel to the next patient.
One housebound resident said he had to go without lunch because otherwise there would not be enough time for carers to help him to the toilet.
Freedom of Information requests from 139 councils by the Leonard Cheshire Disability charity found that 105 had commissioned care visits that lasted 15 minutes or less, in defiance of government and NHS guidelines that state slots should last at least half an hour.
It came as a separate investigation claimed that care workers were cutting short their visits to elderly patients to as little as five minutes – then faking records to cover up their negligence.
Leonard Cheshire Disability chief executive Clare Pelham said: ‘ We are concerned that many councils are still commissioning flying care visits – often 15 minutes or even less – to deliver essential personal care such as washing, dressing and eating.
‘These rushed visits are simply not long enough to provide dignified support to disabled and older people, leaving many facing impossible choices such as using the toilet or having a cup of tea.
‘ We urge councils to follow government guidance which clearly says that 15 minutes is never enough for personal care.’
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: ‘It is difficult to see how this dehumanising approach can really be described as “care” at all, and this is unfair on care workers, let alone on frail older people. It is truly deplorable that some frail older people are going without any lunch because a care worker does not have the time to give it to them.
‘Allocating such a short amount of time for home visits makes it impossible for staff to deliver proper care or engage in any normal friendly interaction with the person being cared for – for whom this may be their only social contact all day.
‘Care staff who are under pressure to keep to a tight timetable are likely to cut short visits, fail to complete tasks and may not notice serious changes in the person’s health or circumstances.’
The investigation – which covered a third of councils in England – found that the proportion allocating 15minute slots was similar to three years ago, indicating the recent crackdowns have had little effect.
MP Andrew Gwynne, Labour’s public health spokesman, said: ‘These disturbing figures show the human cost of Tory cuts to social care services in England.
‘These fleeting visits are so short that some older people are now saying they have to choose better getting washed or getting fed. The Tories’ neglect of social care has been allowed to go on for too long.’
A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘It’s not acceptable for care visits to be inappropriately short – it is vital older and vulnerable people get the high quality care they deserve. That’s why we are putting more funding into social care – local authorities will have access to up to £3.5 billion more funding this Parliament.’
A joint investigation by The Sunday Times and Channel 4’s Dispatches said care workers were cutting short their visits to as little as five minutes. Investigators say they also found evidence of agency workers failing to turn up or arriving hours late, leaving clients unwashed for days and failing to give medication at the right time.
Staff at two companies paid by local authorities to care for elderly residents at home were also caught doctoring the logs to make it appear the visits were longer.
Britain’s Pensioner Care Scandal, Dispatches, Channel 4, 8pm today