Why might Connected Health withdraw domiciliary care services in Northern Ireland?

Connected Health may withdraw domiciliary care services in rural Northern Ireland due to the independent care sector's inadequate government funding, rising fuel costs, and the decision not to extend the Real Living Wage to care workers.

What changes are planned by the Southern Health Trust regarding home care visits?

The Southern Health Trust plans to reduce the time spent on home care visits, with morning and night visits shortened from 30 to 20 minutes, and lunch and tea visits from 20 to 15 minutes.

What is the cost of sickness absence for the Southern Health Trust?

Sickness absence in the Southern Health Trust resulted in over 41,000 lost days in one year, costing approximately £2.5 million and leading to around 550 missed home care visits.

Rural Care Withdrawn as Funding Fails

5 May

Summary

Domiciliary care services may be cut in rural Northern Ireland.
Carer visits reduced in time and number by Southern Health Trust.
Sickness costs trust millions, leading to missed care visits.

Connected Health has announced it may cease domiciliary care services in certain rural areas of Northern Ireland due to insufficient funding for the independent care sector.

The company's chief executive, Ryan Williams, cited rising fuel costs and the failure to extend the Real Living Wage to care workers as reasons for the "completely untenable" situation, warning of families being left stranded.

Meanwhile, leaked plans from the Southern Health Trust reveal a strategy to shorten home care visit durations and decrease the number of daily visits for some individuals.

This comes amid reports of significant sickness absence within the Southern Trust, resulting in over 41,000 lost days annually and approximately 550 missed home care visits last year.

The Southern Trust's internal home care costs are also reportedly double that of the independent sector, with unit costs at £39.74 per hour compared to £21.25 per hour.

Industry representatives argue that the independent sector is more efficient and could provide better care across more areas if compensated comparably to health trusts.

Disclaimer: This story has been auto-aggregated and auto-summarised by a computer program. This story has not been edited or created by the Feedzop team.

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