Ellen McNamee is a home carer in the not-for-profit sector who works with both older people and people with disabilities. The worry over getting paid for clients who cancelled their care has affected her and her colleagues over the past few months, with many experiencing a significant drop in their paycheck.
Ellen McNamee says uncertainty over pay has been a worry for home carers during the pandemic Source: Bryan Meade Cancellation of clients had a huge impact on providers, according to Joseph Musgrave, chief executive of the representative body for private for-profit providers, Home and Community Care Ireland . HCCI represents around 80 providers in Ireland who care for 20,000 people and employ 10,000 carers.
It initially “agreed to pay providers an agreed rate in respect of clients who were cancelling their service from 13 March”. During this time, providers were only paid for the first two days when a client self-isolated. Because of this, “some providers paid their carers in March and took the hit but some couldn’t do that”.
We asked the top five HSE funded for-profit private home care providers if they passed on these HSE payments to their carers if their hours were cut. These five companies are all members of HCCI. Here are their responses:A number of carers from Home Instead Senior Care told Noteworthy that they experienced income loss over the course of the pandemic. This for-profit provider received the most HSE funding over the past number of years, with €55.5 million paid to them in 2019.
However, other carers were treated differently. Megan*, a home carer based in Dublin who works for a Dublin branch of the same private provider, said that she was paid her normal wage when looking after a client who had coronavirus, even though her hours were cut as she couldn’t look after her other clients.“As part of the national response to Covid-19, the HSE put a nationwide agreement in place with homecare providers to deal with the challenges posed by the pandemic.
When they were informed of this by Noteworthy, a spokesperson for the provider said: “From the outset of the pandemic, Home Instead Senior Care has adhered in full to the HSE, NPHET and HPSC guidelines”. Some were told by their employers that they could “buy face masks themselves”, without offering a reimbursement, but carers said this was not plausible due to both supply and cost.
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