Public warned of extra costs at private care homes

Raising of import quota for carers also urged after low staff ratios revealed

The consumer watchdog has called on residents to be vigilant over costs associated with private care homes after it found that additional charges by some facilities for items ranging from diapers to air conditioning may account for up to 57 per cent of the basic monthly fees.

The Consumer Council yesterday also urged the government to raise the labour importation quotas for carers so elderly residents could enjoy the service at “reasonable and affordable prices”, as it discovered that some facilities had a low staff ratio of one worker to 30 residents.

The watchdog highlighted that the industry generally lacked information transparency as a mere 40 out of 297 private and non-subsidised care homes replied to its questionnaires.

It also obtained partial information from six randomly selected private homes by posing as customers.

“The care homes charged a series of monthly fees according to the level of care required, type of room, district of location, and the environment and facilities of the homes, of which the basic monthly fees could range from HK$6,000 to HK$82,000, a difference of over 12 times,” said Victor Lam Hoi-cheung, chairman of the council’s publicity and community relations committee.

There was also a series of additional charges, again with huge price discrepancies, that entailed, he added. For instance, 30 of surveyed facilities charged an administration or bedding fee for the first move-in, ranging from HK$500 to HK$4,000, a sevenfold difference.

For air conditioning, 39 homes charged HK$100 to HK$650 monthly from May to October, while one charged HK$200 a month for heating from December to February.

Lam said seven of the homes charged HK$150 to HK$200 a month for electricity, while nine others charged for each electrical appliance, such as inflatable mattresses, televisions and oxygen concentrators.

Medication collection and sample delivery were typically charged per visit ranging from HK$50 to HK$450, or starting from HK$90 to HK$250 an hour.

For daily consumables such as diapers, the cost could range from HK$1,600 to HK$5,000 if they are charged on a monthly basis, or

HK$1,300 to HK$4,800 by charging for each one used, assuming an elderly resident used eight per day. “If consumers are given the option to provide diapers on their own, it is recommended to shop around according to the needs of their elders as this may save a considerable sum in the long run,” Lam said.

In three private homes in the Eastern district, the additional costs for residents with high care needs made up between 0 per cent and 57 per cent of their base monthly fees, the council said. These charges did not include expenses for non-essential items such as nutritional milk powder or medical delivery services.

The watchdog called on residents to inquire about the calculation of other charges and terms of residency while choosing care homes for the elderly, and check fees and charges meticulously in every bill to ensure they were correct and reasonable.

The watchdog also raised concerns on manpower as it had found notable disparities in the carer-to-resident ratios across different homes, ranging from one to three residents to as many as 30.

“It means that each care worker has to change the diapers of 10 elders requiring a high level of care, around seven to nine times, and spoon feed them three times per day, and bathe them every other day, while also taking care of the remaining 20 elders who required medium and low level of care, so [the] workload is demonstrably very heavy,” Lam said.

He urged care homes to regularly review the staff ratio and put in place a backup plan to cope with the possibility of manpower shortages while calling for authorities to regularly review the need for adjusting the labour importation quota to ensure services at reasonable and affordable prices.