Concern over rushed homecare for Shropshire's elderly

Unison found the two councils – along with 10 others in the West Midlands – are still limiting some homecare visits for elderly, ill and disabled residents.

It said that following a survey and a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, three quarters – 74 per cent – of homecare workers who responded felt they did not have enough time to provide dignified care for the elderly and disabled people they visited.

But Councillor Lee Chapman, cabinet member for adult services at Shropshire Council said it was not a regular occurance, and emphasised that they would only be commissioned as part of wider care.

He said: "We do not commission standalone calls of 15 minutes for personal care. Fifteen-minute calls are only ever commissioned where it is as an integral part of a wider care package, or as part of a planned period of re-ablement within which the client gradually receives reducing levels of support as they recover and become able to do more for themselves."

A Telford & Wrekin Council spokeswoman said: "Fifteen minutes calls are on very few occasions commissioned by Telford & Wrekin Council, sometimes as part of a wider care package and typically in relation to meal or medication oversight.

"Telford & Wrekin's care commissioning is in line with best practice to ensure that safe and dignified care is provided in accordance with individual need."

The union's general secretary Dave Prentis said: "It is heartbreaking and distressing that many elderly and disabled people are not being cared for in a humane and dignified manner.

"Eye-watering cuts imposed by the government mean councils are still booking the shortest possible visits to care for vulnerable, frail and isolated elderly people. Homecare workers are often the only face some people see all day, and they are a lifeline."

A similar report by Unison in 2014 showed that the same proportion of councils (74 per cent) were regularly using 15-minute visits.

Mr Prentis added: "With the challenge of an ageing population living longer, care planning and adequate funding for social care should be a government priority and it clearly is not.

"Ministers should stop passing the social care buck to councils, and dig deep to find the cash from Treasury coffers to provide dignified care for the elderly."

The union's report called Suffering Alone at Home was based on an online survey of 1,100 homecare workers and data obtained from a Freedom of Information request (FoI) to the 152 local authorities in England that commission social care visits.