FLYING home care visits to the elderly or disabled must stop, a health watchdog has told councils.

But a body which represents care firms in Bradford has warned that companies will be driven out of business if new guidelines are not matched by more funding.

Yesterday, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) released guidance saying home care workers should stay at least half an hour when helping elderly or disabled people in their homes and must also be given adequate travel time between appointments.

Visits shorter than 30 minutes should only be made in very limited circumstances, and people should know the workers who visit them rather than being met with a stream of new faces, it said.

Konrad Czajka, chairman of the Bradford Care Association, which represents care companies, said he agreed with NICE that home visits should last at least half an hour.

He said the association had opposed 15-minute visits "for a long time", unless they were used simply to make a quick check on someone.

He said: "By the time you have got into the house, made a cup of tea and said hello, the visit's over."

But he said care firms were already under huge financial pressures, and he hoped the Government would provide extra funding in its autumn spending review.

Without this, he said, smaller local firms would be forced to abandon their line of work, leaving just the big national companies providing care.

He said: "That's already happening. There have been a number of companies that have exited already in Bradford."

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And Mr Czajka added that low wages paid to care workers meant staff turnover was often high, citing it as one of the reasons why someone receiving care might see unfamiliar faces.

Council bosses are already clamping down on the use of 15-minute care visits in the district.

Last week, Bradford Council, which commissions private firms to carry out home care on its behalf, decided to drastically limit its use of the controversial short visits.

It followed a hard-hitting report by Healthwatch Bradford and District, which highlighted concerns about rushed, missed or late visits, and an in-depth inquiry into 15-minute visits and other issues by the Council's health and social care scrutiny committee.

Yesterday, Healthwatch manager Andrew Jones welcomed the new NICE guidance, saying it echoed many of Healthwatch's own findings in Bradford.

He said: "It’s particularly welcome to see NICE putting emphasis on ensuring workers have time to talk to the person and their carer, as this something lots of people talked to Healthwatch about.

"People really value it when workers have the time to take off their coats, introduce themselves and ask what people need."

Bernard Lanigan, Bradford Council's interim strategic director of adult services and health, said the Council's "position on 15-minute care visits, in light of this new guidance, remains the same as it did last week".

He added: "The Association of Adult Directors of Social Services (ADASS) has also agreed that there are some cases where 15-minute visits are fully justified and appropriate.

"Longer care visits are needed where more support is needed, for example personal care, such as washing and dressing, housework or healthcare."