The Department of Health has announced that it has agreed to increase the rates paid to home support providers, including the payment of travel time, as well as ensuring providers are paid at least the national living wage.
The department did not reveal the rates of pay increase but said in order to offer the rate increase, it would cut targets in the National Service Plan 2023 by almost two million hours. Targets in the National Service Plan 2023 for the provision of 23.9 million hours of home support, are to be revised to a target of 22 million hours, it said.
The HSE last December asked private home care providers to continue to accept pay rates set in 2018 for another four months while requests for additional fees, including payment of the “living wage” for private sector workers, were addressed.
However, negotiations were hampered when it emerged proposed fee increases had not been sanctioned by the Department of Health.
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As a result, services to more than 40,000 recipients of private home care across the State were placed in placed in jeopardy.
State-funded home support is delivered directly by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and by service providers in the community and voluntary, and private sectors. Home support services that are not provided directly by the HSE are procured through a tender process. A new Home Support Tender process is currently close to finalisation and due to be in place by August.
The HSE also provides its own direct care, which costs the State about €45 to €47 per hour, according to Joe Musgrave, chief executive of the HCCI.
Mr Musgrave told The Irish Times that HSE officials told him in March that a new rate of €34.44 per hour would be implemented for private workers. However, this rate was not forthcoming and the HSE on April 19th announced a new “rate card” for service providers, which calculated the base payment at €28.50 per hour.
