Home Care Services

(asked on 7th March 2018) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of home-care visits for personal care that last for 15 minutes or less.


Answered by
Caroline Dinenage Portrait
Caroline Dinenage
This question was answered on 14th March 2018

The Care Act 2014 is clear that commissioning services without properly considering the impact on people’s wellbeing is unacceptable. However, it would be inappropriate to introduce a blanket ban on 15 minute homecare visits. They may be appropriate in certain circumstances, for instance, checking medication has been taken.

Ultimately, local authorities are responsible for the commissioning of services. We are supporting local authorities to improve commissioning of care.

The Department worked with the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association to produce a framework of standards, ‘Commissioning for Better Outcomes’ which explicitly states that inappropriate use of short visits is not compatible with best practice.

The Department has also worked with local government and the care sector to develop and encourage good practice in commissioning and managing local markets. A suite of guidance is now available at the on-line Hub on GOV.UK.

The Department is working with organisations from across the adult social care sector to implement Quality Matters – a commitment to improving quality.

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