Britain faces £3.25 billion homecare funding gap

With NHS bodies reducing purchased hours, the Homecare Association argues that homecare is funded at levels that make legal compliance difficult. 

Homecare across the UK is now funded at levels that make legal compliance difficult, high-quality care undeliverable, and workforce sustainability unachievable. Drawing on freedom of information requests sent to 276 public bodies, the Homecare Association report believes that chronic underfunding has reached a tipping point. 

It finds that 29% of councils and Trusts now pay average hourly rates that fail even to cover the direct employment costs of careworkers at the minimum wage in each UK administration.

“The figures show a system that no longer works – for the people who need support, for careworkers, for councils or for the NHS,” said Homecare Association chief executive Jane Townson. “Homecare enables people to live well at home and reduces hospital pressures, yet it is commissioned at prices that make legal and safe delivery difficult. The result is a workforce leaving for retail and hospitality, and older and disabled people waiting longer for essential support,” she added. 

A moral and economic imperative 

The report finds that the UK faces a £3.25 billion annual shortfall to pay careworkers a fair wage, equivalent to comparable roles in the NHS, and keep providers sustainable: £2.64 billion in England, £320 million in Scotland, £135 million in Wales, and £155 million in Northern Ireland.

The NHS pays less per hour on average for homecare than local authorities, even for people with more complex health needs, which require care workers to have higher levels of training and supervision. 

Based on the data received, NHS bodies have reduced the hours of homecare they have purchased over the past year. This supports concerns raised by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) in its Spring survey that NHS bodies are reducing or reclassifying continuing healthcare packages, and are shifting costs from the NHS to councils and individuals.

“Underfunding social care costs the taxpayer far more through hospital delays and workforce loss,” said Townson. “A fair price for care is not an optional extra – it is the foundation of a sustainable health and care system. Investing properly in homecare is both a moral and an economic imperative: it keeps people independent, relieves hospital pressure, and strengthens local economies,” she added.