Home Care Services: Staff

(asked on 17th September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with (a) care providers and (b) local authorities on home carers receiving pay for the time that they spend (i) travelling between clients and (ii) changing into personal protective equipment between visits.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 1st October 2020

All social care workers must be paid at least the national minimum wage or national living wage for the time that they work. Time spent caring for clients, travelling to appointments, and waiting to start the appointment should be included in the pay calculation. Time spent between appointments donning and doffing personal protective equipment should also be included in the calculation. Further guidance on what counts as working time is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/minimum-wage-different-types-work

We have now made £3.7 billion available to local authorities so they can address pressures on local services caused by the pandemic, including in adult social care. The Infection Control Fund, set up in May 2020, is being extended until March 2021, with an extra £546 million for the care sector to take key steps to improve infection prevention and control.

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