System is teetering on brink of collapse
A NORTH Wales social care leader fears the system will collapse after further home closures hit the region this year.
More private and council homes for the elderly and vulnerable have shut their doors with independent owners and local authorities struggling to keep them going.
In Conwy alone over the last year, seven independent care homes closed totalling 123 beds and 8% of the total bed availability across the county, leaving what council chiefs called “a fragile situation”.
Mario Kreft, chairman of Care Forum Wales, claims urgent action is needed to save the system.
He called on the Welsh Government to invest more cash in the independent sector and in care for people at home.
“What we need in Wales is an integrated health and social care system, and extra funding to local councils needs to be ring-fenced to sustain the care sector,” he said.
“By integrating health and social care, we can rebalance the spending so that our resources are used far more effectively.
“At the moment we’re spending a great deal of money keeping people in hospital on the NHS, people who don’t need to be there.”
He added: “We need to act urgently to make sure that we don’t lose any more capacity in terms of residential, nursing and domiciliary care. There is no time to lose.”
Mr Kreft MBE, spoke out after the UK Government gave the go-ahead for local authorities in England to raise more money by increasing council tax, which he believes is not the answer.
In January the Plas y Bryn residential home in Bontnewydd, Gwynedd, shut its doors, which looked after roughly 60 people suffering from dementia and other mental illnesses.
In April, Flintshire council leader Aaron Shotton warned Llys Gwenffrwd in Holywell, Croes Atti in Flint, Marleyfield in Buckley and the county’s home care services, could close if budgets continued to be slashed.
During September and October three care homes in Conwy closed in the space of three weeks - Rhos on Sea’s Plas Isaf, Plas Parciau in Old Colwyn, and Furze Mount in Colwyn Bay.
This month Wrexham council also confirmed it was closing two day centre facilities for older people in Caia Park and Plas Yn Rhos.
A Conwy council spokeswoman said: “We are concerned that there have been closures and this does create a fragile situation in respect of the available provision.”
She added: “The decision to close is never taken lightly by providers. Officers of the authority work closely alongside providers where there are early indications a closure may occur to see if there is anything we can do to prevent it.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Over the last year we have continued to work with social care stakeholders and have engaged with ADSS (Association of Directors of Social Services Cymru), Care Forum Wales, UKHCA (United Kingdom Homecare Association), service providers and commissioners to address the issues facing the sector.
“We are aware of their concerns about financial pressures impinging upon the social care sector, particularly the implementation of the National Living Wage.”
He said the Welsh Government’s combined spending on health and social services per head was 6% higher than England.
“The Local Government settlement for 2017/18 includes an additional £25m to support the delivery of strong social services, in recognition of the pressures they are facing,” he said.
“£60m has also been made available through the Intermediate Care Fund for 2016-2017 to enable better integration between health and social services.
“We are keeping the position under review and will continue to consider how the sector can be supported.”