Is £20 an hour reasonable for privately funded carer cover?

[Lzzyisgod]

Long story (as always!) and having established (with him not us!) df needs a 2nd carer.(to cover the amazing carer he has ) on days off/ annual leave etc.

DF is privately funding and I was pretty shocked at a few responses to our advert tbh - he isn't nursing care level but needs prompts and support (minimal moving and handling and personal care) but we had some applicants who applied who wanted more money and im curious to see if this was a general trend.

We advertised at £20 per hour (which we thought was fair) but some of the applicants were asking for £24 - 30 an hour. DSIS is a B7 nhs nurse and that's more than she's on!

We are East Mids so not am overly affluent area. Am I in the wrong job? Or is that reasonable for a carer per hour?

The going rate for private carers where I am is £25 - 35ph (not anywhere expensive).

The Band 5 nurse also has annual leave, pension and sick leave, PAYE admin and job security built into their pay but a self employed carer doesn't and has to build this into their hourly costs. If you looked at the actual cost of a band 5 nurse to the NHS rather than just the basic pay the band 5 nurse receives then the private carer's actual take home would be equivalent or less.

Not sure why but I thought your original post said a band 5. A band 7 is on £24 - 27ph with all the additional benefits of paid annual leave/ sickness/pension etc as well.

It's not comparable to a band 7 nursing job.

£25-35 ph is the going rate here. You're underpaying.

If you were employing a (male) tradesman they would be on £250 - £300 day rate.... why is caring/nursing worth less?

As @hatgirl puts, also Mat leave, funded trading, uniform provided…the problem is when the job is a caring role… people seem to think it should be done for the love of it. And not that you are having to finance your life.

I guess thats true (as any nhs take home hourly rate for the employer is +25%) but we aren't asking for any nursing skills though.

They also have to factor in flexibility, being available when your other carer is off, travel time between jobs, finding numerous jobs to fill their week, £20 per hour does not mean the earn £20 x 35 per week x 52 weeks of the year.. plus they have a huge amount of additional admin associated with having multiple jobs..

The flexibility was always my worry - everyone will want people at the same time.

It's such a minefield trying to juggle the budget, the budget DF wants to pay (even less unrealistic) and keeping him safe without having a nervous breakdown ourselves

We’re East Mids and paying £35per visit for our mum, not nursing care but similar to you - prompts to take tablets, prepare breakfast/lunch/tea, help wash & dress - the £35 includes petrol/travelling costs for the carers and mum has 3 visits a day. It’s a lot of money and she has to reign in other costs but the security and reassurance of knowing it’s the same people coming and at a regular/suitable time, they have also built up a good relationship, it costs a lot but it means she can stay in her own home and be cared for. We try and cover as many lunches or teas as we can to keep a few costs down!

My friend pays £50/hour for her private carers.
Having met 2 of the 3, they are well worth it.

Oh lord.

My next question will be how do you tell a parent that what they are prepared to pay is unreasonable in what they need .......

£36 per hour for my DM

Don’t go into chapter and verse. Just tell them it’s the same price everywhere. Job done.

I paid for a short period of care visits recently for myself after surgery. I had to pay £34 an hour - £38 an hour on Saturday and Sunday

When my dad needed carers (he died 4 years ago in 2022) we paid private carers as he was self funding and we had 3 of them on a rota as they all went to other people too and these 3 ladies worked together. We paid £20 an hr Monday to Friday and £30 an hr if we ever needed them on weekends
we are in Nottingham
me and my sister and my aunt all helped, as did my cousin and we tried to keep the number of care hours to a minimum he had between 10-2hrs per week padded out with family helping him.

its a lot cheaper than a carehome and I would be reminding him of that

remember too these people are self employed and have to account for holiday time, pensions, time of sick, training courses,
insurances, paying their own tax and NI -
very different from being employed by the NHS.

We pay £40 an hour for my DH (also East Midlands/Derbyshire) and the company insisted we needed two of them at a time, so 4 visits a day x .5 hr x 2 carers = £1,120 a week. We got the physio to agree one person at a time was okay and then we cut it down to two visits a day. They are happy to do anything he wants but we primarily need them to supervise him walking between rooms with his rollator. No real knowledge or skills, just follow him with the wheelchair in case he feels unsteady. He never has done so far and when they were sending two carers one would sit in the lounge and do nothing! Apparenly it is a highly respected organisation and the others aren't anywhere near as good!

We pay £26 per hour for mum's carers and they insist on coming in pairs so obviously that's £52 p/h and 3 visits per day. They are all lovely (team of 6) but do the bare minimum. Mum is mobile with a frame so no hoisting etc.

We are in North Essex and not a particularly affluent area and I have found it hard pushed to find a carer who charges less than £24 ph.

Is your father eligible to claim attendance allowance? That will help towards the costs.

When DM looked into it for a few weeks post op earlier this year, she was quoted £45/hr as the care agency had no local people, so they upped their rate to include travel.

E Mids based friend has just got help in for her DM @£35/hr.

We pay £27 per hour in South West London. No nursing needs, just help with washing/dressing and food prep.

Self employed carer west midlands here I charge £24 an hour flat rate, no change at week-ends or bank holidays and that includes mileage.

Of course, not the whole £24 comes to me. I have to pay for public liability insurance, training, PPE, the upkeep of a vehicle, tax, national insurance, pension contributions, sick pay and annual leave.

I probably net £18 an hour.

We paid 17.50, south coast.

This is really interesting. I have a disabled son and have just joined this topic as my parents are starting to get a bit older. We are paying my sons carer £25 an hour and the social workers are horrified that we are paying so much and will only fund £14 per hour!

The on costs in self employment (as opposed to being employed) in the public sector for contractors is 20-25% . Not 75%.

OP- has your dad been assessment by adult social services? He 'might' be able to get some support via that route and they can assess if he is getting all the allowances he is entitled to.

I'd also check with local care agencies. They would be able to provide staff with insurance, DBS checks, training etc and also provide a back up for sickness and leave . There was a post last week where a woman employed a team of private carers for her parent and there were absolutely NO checks on the staff at all! i dont know about costings, but get a few quotes from private and agencies to compare.