Anna B 1,365 #1 Posted September 24, 2018 So, this is what it's come to... An elderly couple married for 67 years face separation as the council refuses to fund their care home fees, which are £8,000 a month. They have already sold their £156,000 house and used all their savings to pay for the care home which costs £975 per week for Mrs Springett, 86, who suffers from Alzheimer's, and £925 per week for 91 year old Mr Springett who is more able to look after himself but still needs help with some basic tasks and suffers from arthritis and needs a walking frame. Solihull council is prepared to pay £500 towards Mrs Springett's fees but the family will have to pay a top up fee of £475 a week. However the council will not pay for Mr Springett who they say can live alone in a flat with carers coming in. I'm not blaming the council so much as the care home. On what planet should care cost getting on for £8,000 a month? Ridiculous. When my Gran was in a very comfortable care home in the 1970s it was run by the Council, and was free at the point of use. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
smithy266 21 #2 Posted September 24, 2018 Have a look at how the owners of care homes live.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
ECCOnoob 985 #3 Posted September 24, 2018 Link to the Source please or it didn't happen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Anna B 1,365 #4 Posted September 24, 2018 (edited) Have a look at how the owners of care homes live.... I suspect Someone, somewhere, is getting very rich out of all this... Edited September 24, 2018 by Anna B Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
peak4 210 #5 Posted September 25, 2018 Link to the Source please or it didn't happen. Just type "Springett care home" into Google and read any of the first half dozen links; it's really not that hard to find out, though there may be a different number of links by the time you read this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Anna B 1,365 #6 Posted September 25, 2018 As Peak4 says, there are lots of links, this is just one from 'The Times' https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/couple-face-life-apart-after-67-years-due-to-care-costs-k5pgcbm0f Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Janus 28 #7 Posted September 25, 2018 As the difficulty in recruiting the carers, this problem will probably get worse. Currently the care job vacancies in England stands at 110,000. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45593814 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
El Cid 194 #8 Posted September 25, 2018 I'm not blaming the council so much as the care home. On what planet should care cost getting on for £8,000 a month? Ridiculous. When my Gran was in a very comfortable care home in the 1970s it was run by the Council, and was free at the point of use. Both you and the council think £8,000 per month is too much money, yet you think the council should contribute towards the costs? Its a similar situation with housing benefit, there is a rate which the council will pay, but it won't pay for people on benefits to live in a mansion. ---------- Post added 25-09-2018 at 06:32 ---------- As the difficulty in recruiting the carers, this problem will probably get worse. Currently the care job vacancies in England stands at 110,000. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45593814 How much are they paying, £15 per hour and I would think about moving. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Cyclone 10 #9 Posted September 25, 2018 I suspect Someone, somewhere, is getting very rich out of all this... You've said this before, several years ago care home fees were extortionate. And then it was demonstrated over a number of months how care homes were going bankrupt and closing because they couldn't actually afford to stay open! ---------- Post added 25-09-2018 at 07:24 ---------- As the difficulty in recruiting the carers, this problem will probably get worse. Currently the care job vacancies in England stands at 110,000. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45593814 Carers are typically paid minimum wage aren't they. So £8000 a month is not just covering the pay of 2 or 4 carers... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
cgksheff 44 #10 Posted September 25, 2018 Figures suggest that the fees at this care home are nearly double the national average. The reported council offered contribution in this case appears to be around the national average. Should this couple be looking at cheaper alternatives? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Anna B 1,365 #11 Posted September 25, 2018 (edited) Both you and the council think £8,000 per month is too much money, yet you think the council should contribute towards the costs? Its a similar situation with housing benefit, there is a rate which the council will pay, but it won't pay for people on benefits to live in a mansion. ---------- Post added 25-09-2018 at 06:32 ---------- How much are they paying, £15 per hour and I would think about moving. As I said in my original post, the fault lies not with the council but with the care home - or rather with the rip off merchants behind them that forces them to charge this sort of fee. ---------- Post added 25-09-2018 at 10:05 ---------- Figures suggest that the fees at this care home are nearly double the national average. The reported council offered contribution in this case appears to be around the national average. Should this couple be looking at cheaper alternatives? There may be reasons why this care home is used: maybe a cheaper alternative is not available, all other places are full ,(cheaper places fill up fast) or won't take dementia cases (a lot don't,) or it has to be close to the family, or has a special facility. It's not always straight forward. ---------- Post added 25-09-2018 at 10:09 ---------- _________________________________________________________________________________________________ You've said this before, several years ago care home fees were extortionate. And then it was demonstrated over a number of months how care homes were going bankrupt and closing because they couldn't actually afford to stay open! _______________________________________________________________ The problem lies higher up the chain, a problem with the financial arrangement these homes operate under- similar to PFI. Care in care homes is not even that good in some cases. Nothing justifies this charge of £8,000 a month. Nothing. IMO we need to get back to Council run care homes, not run for profit. Edited September 25, 2018 by Anna B Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...
Longcol 577 #12 Posted September 25, 2018 As I said in my original post, the fault lies not with the council but with the care home - or rather with the rip off merchants behind them that forces them to charge this sort of fee. The home is owned by a charitable housing association - Methodist Homes - so is highly unlikely to be making a vast profit - certainly no vast sums going into the pockets of owners / shareholders. 24/7 nursing care never comes cheap. https://www.mha.org.uk/care-homes/nursing-care/cedar-lodge/ I would imagine the land cost a pretty penny in that part of the world. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Share this content via...