The Burstow report – crisis in home care
The report by the Burstow Commission on the future of the home care workforce has been produced and can be read here.
It gives a bleak picture of the state of home care, with exploitative providers, a demoralised and impoverished workforce, cash-strapped councils squeezing providers, and a poor service being given to the people who receive home care.
The commission consisted of parliamentarians, councillors, and representatives from the TUC and Leonard Cheshire Disability. The Executive Director of Mears group was also a member, giving the industry perspective. Mears attempt to portray themselves as a better type of care provider, though recent reports from the Care Quality Commission on Mears' activities in Wiltshire imply they should perhaps be seen more as part of the problem than as the solution.
The report found that some 200,000 care workers are getting less than the legal minimum wage. Even if the nominal wage rate is higher, it's brought down by having unpaid travelling time, and tight timetables which workers cannot practically keep to. The cost of travel is an additional expense which may not be reimbursed. Enforcement agencies require a worker to make a complaint, which a harassed carer may be reluctant to do, so one of the commission's suggestions is that unions and organisations such as CAB should be able to initiate action against employers. Other costs such as training and phone calls may fall on the employee, reducing their effective wage still further.
The 'Living Wage' is a slightly higher figure than the minimum wage, being the amount anyone needs to survive at a reasonable level. It's currently set at £7.85 per hour. However if all the deductions are taken into account a care worker needs to be on a nominal wage of £18.59 to be getting a real wage of £7.85.
More than half of front-line care workers are on zero hours contracts. In some cases these could be beneficial, giving staff and employers flexibility. However they are also commonly used by employers to exploit their staff.
Wiltshire Council is commended in the report for using 'outcomes-based commissioning', rather than the rigid and impersonal timetabling which leads to some of the worst abuses of both staff and clients.
The recommendations focus on better employment conditions for staff including an end to illegal wage structures and higher status for care workers with a licensing system to make the job more professional. HMRC should also be rooting out providers who cheat by paying below the minimum wage in real terms.