David Laws MP publishes shocking care home survey figures

David Laws MP is once again highlighting the plight of the more vulnerable members of our society by releasing the worrying results of his comprehensive Constituency Care Homes Survey.

The results are extremely concerning and indeed, important, as they give an accurate indication of the mood and concerns of those people at the forefront of the provision of care.

The survey, which is the first to attempt to quantify the costs of the Care Standards Act locally, covers 35 care homes, both residential and nursing, and comprises a total of 663 beds. THe main findings are:

- 85% of the care homes surveyed have considered refusing state funded residents. Were this to happen, it would result in the loss of up to 270 beds available to state funded residents across the two constituencies.

- 50% of the care homes surveyed have considered closing.

- Those who pay for their care home places are being penalized by Government underfunding. The care homes are not receiving adequate recompense for their state funded residents, so the fees for those paying for their own care home places are increasing in order to make up the shortfall.

The new Care Standard Act is also causing problems, as it is not known exactly how much the new act will cost these already struggling care homes. Care Homes are happy to improve their premises and train their staff but are not receiving the financial support to carry the improvements through.

Local Authorities are handicapped by the level of the Social Services Grant from central Government; each Local Authority receives the same level of grant regardless of how many beds they need or how many beds are available in the area.

Now he has the full results of his survey, David Laws will be calling on the Government to launch a full scale review of the system, so that each area gets paid depending on care home capacity, staff costs, Care Standard Act costs and bed blocking levels in that area. The Government should tie the level of money provided to the level of need.

David Laws said:

“This survey shows that the pressures care homes are facing must be given a higher priority by the government. Many care home owners want to raise standards but the Government must give them the support to do this. We want local authorities to be able to provide long term sustained investment in social care, informed by realistic assessment of what is needed to care for our elderly."

Category: MP Press Releases