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Kevin Brewer loves his job and can’t afford to be without it – but these days he can’t afford to do it either.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
They added: “This is the subject of wider ongoing engagement across government.”<\/p>\n
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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Petrol and diesel costs have also risen<\/a> sharply. In Northern Ireland, the average price of petrol is 154p per litre while diesel costs 188.1p, according to the Consumer Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n That is up from a pre-conflict average of 124.8p per litre for petrol and 132.6p for diesel.<\/p>\n‘I love my job’<\/h2>\n