Kevin Brewer loves his job and can't afford to be without it - but these days he can't afford to do it either. A domiciliary care worker, Kevin drives about 70 miles a day between clients' houses and the rise in fuel prices means he doesn't "know how much longer" he can carry on. "I thought last week I was going to have to phone up and tell them I couldn't go.
I had to borrow money to pay for fuel," he said. With the US-Israel war with Iran pushing petrol and diesel prices up, carers like Kevin who spend every day on the road are feeling the strain - and now industry body Independent Health & Care Providers (IHCP) has called on the authorities to help. They say the Department of Health "needs to take urgent action to support staff through this fuel crisis in order to sustain the vital service in our community".
In a statement, the Department of Health have said they understand that "recent volatility" in fuel costs is having a "significant impact" on the public and service providers, including providers of health and social care services. They added: "This is the subject of wider ongoing engagement across government." About 20% of the world's oil trade, the raw ingredient for producing both petrol and diesel, has been halted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Petrol and diesel costs have also risen sharply.
In Northern Ireland, the average price of petrol is 154p per litre while diesel costs 188.1p, according to the Consumer Council. That is up from a pre-conflict average of 124.8p per litre for petrol and 132.6p for diesel. Kevin works in Donemana, County Tyrone, and used to pay about £30 every second day for petrol for work, but that has increased substantially.
He works for a private company and gets reimbursed about £100 per month in mileage, leaving him short. I love care work," he said, but added: "I just don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to do it." He's calling on politicians to help home care workers. "Something needs to happen because we are going to lose our care staff in the community because I've been talking to colleagues myself and they're all suffering the same issues," he told BBC News NI.
"I don't know how much longer I can carry on. I'm out money to go to my job. "I can't afford to go to work," Brewer said, adding that he cannot afford to stay off either.
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