Social care is in crisis: everyone knows that. And everyone knows that if nothing is done about the long-term sustainability of the sector, then the crisis will only get worse. But less well-known is that there is a short-term crisis looming that could threaten the sector very quickly, too.
Over the past few years, the sector has been trying to work out the implications of a court ruling that carers who stay overnight are entitled to the minimum wage for their sleep-in shifts, rather than a flat rate fee for a ‘sleep-in’ shift. This has been made rather more difficult by the government issuing guidance on the ruling which didn’t actually clarify the matter at all, only for ministers to announce a scheme last week which gives the sector 15 months to foot the bill for this backpay.
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