Care homes in England need another £1 billion of investment a year to bring them up to the government’s top standards. A report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says that councils are paying homes between £83 and £127 per person a week less than it would cost to provide a “fully modernised” service.
Government Response: Department of Health
A Department of Health spokesman said:"This acknowledges that our extra investment is reaching front-line services and pushing up quality. We expect to see every council improve their commissioning in ways that encourage a local system in which good providers thrive -and bad providers improve or disappear altogether. In that way providers will be able to tender for services at a price that reflects the costs of providing a quality service. Councils need to ensure cost effective quality services on behalf of people using them."
Forum Response: Joseph Rowntree Foundation
William Laing, of the health and community care analysts Laing and Buisson, author of the Jospeh Rowntree Foundation report said: "Although many local authorities had substantially increased the amount they pay care homes in the past two years, the money was not enough to bring all homes to the demanding standards set for new homes.
“There is a price to be paid for care homes that meet the higher standards, but it is not only providers and investors who would benefit. Older people who relied on the State to fund their care would have access to better-quality facilities. There would also be an end to the existing unfairness where relatives or charities had to make “top-up” payments. "
Forum Response: Voice UK
Director of Voice UK Kathryn Stone said: "We need also to remember that many people with learning and physical disabilities have very complex needs and also live in care homes.
"It seems inconsistent with high care standards that staff earn less in such an environment than they would in their local supermarket. Good quality care costs money and people who live in such settings deserve no less"
Forum Response: Disabilities Trust
Matt Townsend, public affairs officer at the Disabilities Trust said: "The points raised by William Laing in his report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, are a welcome and timely reminder of the true cost of providing adequate social care in the 21st century. Despite recent improvements in contractual relationships, too many independent providers still struggle to get the right fee levels for the care and support they provide and end up subsidising their services which can of course lead to severe financial problems. Although as the government has pointed out, its true that many people in need of care and support, (both older people and those with a disability), increasingly wish to continue living at home or in sheltered housing for as long as possible, more traditional residential places will still be needed for some and the marketplace must be able to provide a genuine degree of choice.
"In addition, while the Care Standards Act was a necessary piece of legislation and one the Trust fully supported, it has however left some smaller providers facing additional costs that cannot always be met through previous fee levels. If therefore the statutory requirements the government make of residential providers continues to increase, (which is more than likely), then local authorities must ensure an adequate level of financial support is forthcoming or else many more homes will close, constricting the available supply and forcing more people to move a long way away from their homes to find a residential place, if they need one. For our part, as a provider of residential as well as community housing, we maintain a robust approach to negotiating fees thus ensuring we get the right level of financial support and can continue providing specialist support that meets the needs of people with complex disabilities."
Forum Response: Age Concern
Age Concern England director-general, Gordon Lishman, said: "The updated report shows that there are still major problems in funding good quality care. Many relatives are having to pay large amounts of money to bridge the gap between the fees that homes need to charge to provide good care and the local authority's contribution. It is also extremely worrying that those who are funding their own care costs are often being charged higher fees to make up for the local authority's contribution.
"This report is timely given that the OFT is soon to start a full investigation into the transparency of prices and the information residents get. The Government must help to restore people's confidence in the system and also reduce the terrible anxiety that many vulnerable older people and their relatives currently experience."
Forum Response: Counsel and Care
Martin Green, chief executive of counsel and care said: “The Joseph Rowntree report highlights the chronic under funding within the residential care sector. With an increasing number of older people living longer there will be a greater a prevalence of dementia and inevitably there will be a greater need for good quality residential care. High quality residential care can not be developed over night and the government must deal with the issues of funding now to avoid a crisis in the future."
Forum Response: Stroke Association
A spokesman for the Stroke Association said: "Over 120,000 people over the age of 60 have a stroke each year in England and Wales. Stroke becomes much more common with advancing age and has a greater disability impact than any other condition. This means many elderly stroke survivors often have to move into care homes so that they can receive help with the often long-term practical, physical and emotional difficulties they face whilst coming to terms with their strokes.
"The Stroke Association believes that all stroke patients, regardless of age, should have access to the highest standard of care from initial diagnosis right through to recovery and rehabilitation. This latest report unfortunately confirms that care homes are still unable to provide the standard of care that elderly patients have the right to receive; indeed in some cases councils are still unable to provide means for care homes to provide a minimum standard of care."
