Plaid Cymru AM Lindsay Whittle has managed to secure a change in the law to make sure care visits to people’s homes last a minimum of 30 minutes.
An amendment tabled to the Regulation and Inspection (Wales) Bill by the Caerphilly-based AM, and supported by fellow Assembly Members, will ensure that domiciliary care visits to people’s homes will be extended from 15 minutes.
Other amendments put forward by Lindsay Whittle, and passed, include regulations to enable people to remain in their own homes for as long as possible and to ensure service providers carry out workforce planning and training. The cultural and spiritual needs of individuals will also have to be considered, as well as physical and mental needs.
The bill is set to become law next year but a bid to prevent service providers from employing staff on zero hours contracts was lost.
Lindsay Whittle, who represents South Wales East, said: “I’m delighted that fellow Assembly Members have supported my efforts to improve the quality of care provided for people living in residential homes, as well as their own homes.
“It is particularly important that care visits to people will now be a minimum of 30 minutes in duration. I’ve never believed that a quick 15 minutes visit was satisfactory because so little can be done in that time to deal with the care needs of an individual.”
Efforts to ban service providers from employing staff on zero hours contracts were voted down alongside a proposal for care companies to have whistleblowing policies in place to protect staff who notice examples of unacceptable standards of care.
Gesture politics at its finest. this extra 15 minutes will not make much difference.
15 minutes (extra), more in some cases, to some homebound person is a huge assistance and represents sleeping in chair, or being assisted to get in and out of bed. A hot drink prepared for them, or a drink of water, probably stale. Getting dressed for the day or staying dressed in those already slept in, etc etc, Yes 15 minutes to an old person who otherwise may not see another human being all day is a real lifeline, should be at least an hour of course.
Interesting that the use of zero hours contracts by care firms will be allowed to continue and that legislation to protect ‘whistle blowers’ who make poor standards of care public knowledge were voted down too.
I thought the Labour party was against zero hours contracts, obviously I was wrong. Labour does support these contracts and is apparently unsupportive of those workers who have the courage to report poor health care. I look forward to Labour activists knocking my door before next year’s election and arguing otherwise.
Richard A huge number 0f Assembly service employees are on zero hours contracts AND paid below the minimum wage, all rubbing shoulders with Assembly Members, even down to the tea ladies and gents.
Pretty shameful isn’t it? We have returned to the depression days of the 1930’s where workers would turn up at the dock gates or pit head in the morning only to be told “No work today.”