Council conducts three-minute care visits to vulnerable people, Ombudsman finds | care workers

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It takes care workers less than three minutes to help vulnerable people in their own homes, the Social Care Ombudsman has found, after discovering the council was making ultra-short visits to hundreds of people.

Amid chronic staffing shortages and mounting unmet care needs nationwide, a Home Care Worker commissioned by Warrington Metropolitan Council sometimes stayed on for just three minutes, despite the family paying for the full visit. It emerged that the council had allocated 15-minute care calls to more than 300 people in the area, despite national guidance asserting that these were “not normally appropriate”.

The Home Care Association, which represents caregivers, said the number of short calls being assigned was increasing more broadly, and said that “disproportionately short 15-minute visits,” lead to inadequate care and are stressful for workers who are exposed to Unfair pressure.

The case that launched the investigation involved a woman with dementia who was paying the full cost of her care under a scheme set up by the council. Within 15 minutes, two agency care workers were expected to wake her up, prepare a meal and drink, make sure she ate and drank, give her medication, change her incontinence pad, administer any personal care, and tidy the kitchen. Electronic monitoring showed they regularly stayed less than 15 minutes and the Ombudsman said it was likely that her care needs were not being met and that her care was not being respected.

The case came as Rishi Sunak advocated delaying welfare financing reform, but insisted the government had the “right priorities” by “creating more social care capacity, making sure our social care workers are properly valued, and The respect they deserve, and the career advancement they want.”

The Prime Minister said improvements in social care would “improve people’s current experience with A&E ambulances”. Last spring, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services found that more than half a million people in England are awaiting adult social care, an assessment or review – a measure of unmet need.

The Ombudsman found that 313 other people in Warrington were also receiving short calls.

“When considering visits that may require care workers to dress, wash or feed a person, 15 minutes is rarely enough,” said Michael King, local government and social care ombudsman.

He added: “We are increasingly looking at complaints from a human rights perspective – and boards need to consider the rights of service users to a private life when seeking or providing care.”

The Ombudsman said the council had agreed to pay £500 to the family of the woman whose case led to an investigation into their ordeal.

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