Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health how many staff, including agency staff, are currently employed by each Health and Social Care Trust to deliver domiciliary care packages.
Minister of Health: Information provided by the Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts on the number of domiciliary care workers currently directly employed by them, and details of agency staff use, is provided in the table below. The figures provided relate only to domiciliary care workers and do not include other staff groups required to run the domiciliary care service, for example administrative staff, social workers, or occupational therapists.
| HSC Trust | Domiciliary Care Workers (Headcount) | Agency Domiciliary Care Workers (Headcount) |
| Belfast | 666 | 1 |
| Northern | 802 | The Trust does not use agency domiciliary care workers |
| South Eastern | 671 | The Trust does not use agency domiciliary care workers |
| Southern | 704 staff on contracted hours & 516 staff employed on an ‘as and when required’ basis | The Trust does not use agency domiciliary care workers |
| Western | 469 staff on contracted hours & 217 staff employed on an ‘as and when required’ basis | The Trust does not use agency domiciliary care workers |
All HSC Trusts also commission domiciliary care workers from independent sector providers to varying degrees. It is not possible therefore to equate and compare the size of a Trust employed domiciliary care workforce to the amount of domiciliary care that is provided in a Trust’s catchment area. Approximately 73% of domiciliary care contact hours are provided by the independent sector. (Source: Domiciliary Care Services for Adults in Northern Ireland (2021); https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/publications/domiciliary-care-services-adults-northern-ireland-2021)
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