SOCIAL care workers are being prevented from providing quality of care to vulnerable people if their call-out times are slashed to 15-minute slots, the sector's regulator has warned.
Speaking following the launch of a reports into the urgent need for better pay and conditions, the watchdog warned that with an ageing population there will not be enough care workers for Northern Ireland within the next five years.
There are currently 34,000 registered health and social care staff - accounting for five per cent of the north's total workforce - but it is estimated that an additional 5,000 are required to make services sustainable.
Cuts to home help packages, including reduced visiting times and increased pressures to see more elderly clients in less time, are severely impacting on staff, many of whom are on low pay.
Colum Conway, chief executive of the north's Social Care Workforce Regulator, said it was becoming difficult to attract people to the "undervalued" profession.
"Our workforce helps people live as independently as possible, protects people from harm in vulnerable situations and offers essential help at times of crisis. Its value is also evident on the impact it has on reducing delayed discharge, avoidable admissions and inappropriate long stays in hospital," he said.
"But we continue to provide the care in the way we are doing it...we will need much better terms and conditions.
"People who work in social care want to provide quality of care, it's really important to them and it's difficult to do that with reduced call times."
Mr Conway added that increased investment was required, not just by the Department of Health but right across different government departments and local publicly funded organisations.
"Sometimes a social care worker calling to someone's house might be their only human contact that day. We need to look at that and increase community services across other sectors, from local councils to health trusts.
"There is no one solution and the purpose of these papers is to get people talking and raise awareness of the problems we are facing. We need a collective approach."
Senior health service management attended yesterday's event along with representatives from the north's universities, district councils and other government chiefs including staff from the Department of the Communities.
The report, 'Social Care Matters', was unveiled just three days before a major Department of Health review into adult support services in the north is launched.
Commissioned by former Sinn Féin health minister Michelle O'Neill, an expert panel has produced the long-awaited paper which will identify priority areas requiring reform. It will be published on Monday morning.
