According to a new survey, about three fourth of all the home care visits in England were only for 30 minutes of less.

The United Kingdom Homecare Association found that visits of 30 minutes or less puts service users' dignity at risk and also reducing pay for domiciliary care workers. The figure is lower in Scotland and Wales at 42 per cent. About a third of the care providers said that the short visits put the dignity their clients at risk.

The UKHCA conducted the survey that included 739 providers across the UK. About 655 care providers from England have said that the council eligibility criteria resulted in the situation where clients with greater needs require longer visits due to the amount of support they need to accomplish daily tasks.

The figure has sparked concerns about the ability of the providers to retain staff and meet the national minimum wage due to a reduction in fees, a lack of funding for staff travel time and providers being paid by the minute of care and not for pre-booked time.

“As a care provider, you are often left wondering whether council commissioners give any consideration at all to the consequences for people’s dignity and safety of the decisions they take on short visit times,” said Mike Padgham, chair of the UKCHA.