In spring 2026, the Homecare Association surveyed its members to understand how renewed increases in fuel prices - driven by the conflict in the Middle East that began on 28 February 2026 - and related increases in the cost of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies, are affecting homecare. A total of 202 provider organisations responded, representing almost 27,000 care workers and supporting approximately 48,000 people.
This is the third time in four years that we have surveyed members on the effect of a fuel price shock, following two surveys in 2022. The pattern is consistent: care workers ask for help, some leave, providers turn people away, and public funding does not follow.
The key findings from the survey were:
- The cost falls on the workforce. 80% of care workers use their own vehicles for work. Yet 59% of providers reimburse mileage at 40p per mile or less, and 5% pay no mileage at all. The gap between the cost of motoring and what providers can afford to reimburse comes out of care workers' pay.
- Fuel costs are driving workforce instability. 61% of providers report that care workers have asked for a higher mileage rate, and three in ten (31%) that they have asked for higher base pay. More than a quarter (26%) say care workers intend to look for work elsewhere to cut their travel costs, and more than one in ten (11%) have already had staff give notice or leave.
- Capacity is being lost. More than a quarter of providers (28%) have had to decline new clients because of fuel costs, and 6% have had to stop delivering care to existing clients.
- Providers are deeply concerned, and largely unsupported. More than eight in ten providers (83%) are concerned or very concerned about the impact of fuel costs on the financial viability of their organisation. Not one provider in our sample had received any additional funding from their local authority or local NHS to help with fuel costs, and 98% were unaware of any contingency arrangements to help care staff obtain fuel in the event of queues or shortages.
- The squeeze extends beyond fuel. Seven in ten providers (71%) have already seen PPE prices rise because of conflict in the Middle East; 9% have had difficulty securing PPE. Almost nine in ten (89%) have not been able to build higher PPE costs into their 2026-27 fee rates.
- These pressures bite because homecare is already underfunded. Our Minimum Price for Homecare in England for 2026-27 is £34.42 per hour. The average price actually paid for an hour of homecare in the United Kingdom in 2025-26 was £24.36. With no headroom in the system, even a modest cost rise pushes care workers out and forces providers to withdraw.
These findings are not the symptoms of a single event. They are the predictable result of a funding model that leaves providers and their workers exposed to every external cost shock, with no mechanism to recover the additional cost.
You can read the report in full below:
The impact of rising fuel and other costs on homecare
