Plans in Edinburgh to allow for care to be purchased in five-minute blocks have come under fire from care providers, who say the pursuit of cost-cutting risks undermining the dignity of residents.

Edinburgh integration joint board (IJB) is currently exploring options for a new purchasing system to allow care at home to be bought in five-minute blocks, rather than the current 15 minutes blocks, according to papers.

The savings programme report says this will only remove ‘unused time’ to allow for ‘a more accurate reflection of time spent on delivering care’, thus having no impact on people who need care at home support.

A spokesperson from the Edinburgh health and social care partnership (HSCP) told healthandcare.scot that the minimum visit time will remain 15 minutes, while time after that will be commissioned in five minute increments.

Scottish Care says care packages which are as short as 15 minutes are undignified and untenable.

CEO of Scottish Care Donald Macaskill said:

“Human beings are not machines.

“A care worker is treated with disrespect and their professionalism reduced to making care into a set of tasks to be performed by expecting him or her to work in these timeslots.

"Care is about relationships. People receiving care in their own home deserve to be treated with dignity and not disrespect."

Katharina Kasper, Chair of Edinburgh IJB, said the proposal will reduce the increments of care and the way the IJB pays for it, but not the amount of care provided.

She told healthandcare.scot:

“Our aim will always be to help people to live independently in their own home for as long as possible. We will continue to deliver the amount of care that people need to stay independent.”

The proposal is one of seven additional savings proposals currently in development by Edinburgh IJB in a bid to save £58m in 2026/27.

These include the replacement of overnight supports for some residents with learning disabilities in favour of digital remote monitoring systems, and the introduction of charges for day services, transport and mobility aids.

More details on their impact – both on Edinburgh IJB’s budget and residents of the city – will be brought to the board over the course of the year.

It comes as members of Edinburgh IJB voted at its most recent meeting to agree 19 measures to save £29m in 2025/26.

The proposals will see a health inequalities third sector grants programme wound up by July 2025, and £1.5m meant to support unpaid carers be used to buy replacement care.

A spokesperson from the HSCP said that unpaid carers have told the partnership that this replacement care is the kind of support they want.

IJB Chair Katharina Kasper said:

“I am pleased that we have had the opportunity to consider and approve plans that deliver a balanced budget for next year.

“However, we are facing unprecedented challenges to the sustainability of our health and care system, and it is not possible to deliver savings of £29m without there being an impact on the services we deliver for the people of Edinburgh.”

 

NOTE: article edited 03/04/2025 to update headline and add Edinburgh HSCP spokesperson comments.

 

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