West Midlands care funding crisis sparks fears elderly put at risk

Funding for care for elderly people at their homes across the West Midlands is among the lowest in the country - sparking fears residents are being put at risk.

A minimum of £15.74 an hour should be paid for home care, according to a body representing carers across the UK.

But in Walsall, the council shells out just £11.90, while in Sandwell the figure is £12.17 and £12.62 in Wolverhampton.

The average price in the West Midlands as a whole was £13.90 per hour, with Sandwell, Walsall and Birmingham in the lowest 25 per cent in the UK.

Dudley Council pays £13.74 an hour and Staffordshire £14.39.The lowest average price in the region, paid by Birmingham City Council, was £11.56 per hour.

Only Worcestershire County Council paid a rate above UK Home Care Association's minimum price of £15.74 per hour.

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The body has calculated that this figure is the least that should be paid to cover a decent standard of care, and other costs such as transport for staff.

Bosses say this includes a basic hourly rate for contact time of £6.50, £1.24 for travel time and £4.25 for operating costs of running the business.

But council bosses argue that they are under severe pressure and having to make millions of pounds of cuts.

Home care is often chosen as an alternative to going into a residential home, with the aim of giving them more independence.

The majority of the care is funded by councils, but are largely delivered by independent and voluntary sector providers under contracts.

UKHCA's policy director Colin Angel said: "Low prices paid for homecare services carry a number of risks, including poor terms and conditions for the workforce, insufficient resources to organise the service and insufficient training for the complex work that supports the increasingly frail and disabled individuals who qualify for state-funded support.

"Unless this underfunding is addressed, the independent and voluntary sector will continue to struggle to recruit and retain careworkers with the right disposition, training and qualifications. Ultimately, the care market will become commercially unsustainable for the providers who deliver most of the homecare purchased by the state within the UK."

Walsall Council social care boss Councillor Diane Coughlan said: "The UKHCA statement applies a national perspective and a national average for its minimum price, and of course it costs very different amounts of money depending on where you live. The UKHCA rate doesn't take into account regional and sub-regional variations in economic and employment factors.

"Unfortunately here in Walsall, we've been left with a legacy where the price paid for care is low – too low, in my opinion, and further cuts to our budget make it harder for us to play catch up.

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"Last year we introduced a new minimum price of £11.50 per hour, our average price is £11.90 and there is currently a tender for these services which allow for a market rate to be set against local conditions.

"We're also working towards eliminating zero hour contracts that are just as important as price when it comes to recruiting and retaining good staff. Unfortunately, the UKHCA only looks at price."

Councillor Dave Branwood, Dudley Council's cabinet member for adult and community services, said: "Despite significant financial pressures Dudley Council pays the highest rate per hour for domiciliary care anywhere in Birmingham and the Black Country. "Domiciliary care agencies play a vital role in supporting local people to live in the community. The report raises important concerns about governmental funding for adult social care."

Wolverhampton City Council spokesman Paul Brown said: "Wolverhampton's rates for home care service were agreed following a tendering exercise with local providers in 2012.

"It is not suitable to have a single national rate for home care services. The cost of care varies dramatically across the country and is influenced by factors such as local income, the level of need and population density - for instance as Wolverhampton is geographically very contained, the cost of care can be lower because travel distance and times between service users is lower than in sparsely populated areas."