CARE IN CRISIS
THE number of places available for people needing nursing home care in North Wales has dropped by more than 100 in the past three years.
Figures from the Care and Social Services Inspectorate show there has been a loss of 423 places across Wales for those requiring 24-hour care during the same period – 111 of them in North Wales and 92 in Gwynedd alone.
According to Care Forum Wales, which represents the independent social care sector, drastic action is needed to put things right, and they warn the official statistics may underestimate the true scale of the crisis.
Clive Nadin, owner of Abbey Dale House Care Home, Colwyn Bay, warned that prospects are bleak for the future of care homes in Conwy, which has lost 17 places.
He said: “We’re looking for 50-bedded homes every 18 months for the next 12 years just to meet the projected demand from the figures from social services.
“That’s very worrying, because with the level of fees at the moment there is just no incentive for people to build new homes. The fees are just insufficient to warrant somebody building new homes – it’s not going to happen.
“The people who need care will have to find provision elsewhere, which is predominantly self-funders.
“A lot of people will not be in a position to self-fund. But local authorities will have a responsibility to pay for that care, and they will have to pay the rates at some stage, so in the long run it could actually cost them more by failing to invest now.”
Care Forum Wales chief executive Mary Wimbury warned the situation was going to get worse because of an ageing population with increasingly complex health needs.
She said difficulties in recruiting and retaining nurses is compunding the crisis. A number of nursing homes have been forced to close or de-register their nursing beds and only offer residential care, leaving more people stuck in hospital.
Ms Wimbury said: “These new figures are incredibly worrying because we know that we’re only at the start of winter and we’re already seeing hospital beds filling up. People need to be able to get out of those hospital beds to be cared for in their communities.
“We know there is a difficulty in recruiting and retaining enough nurses. Health boards across Wales are paying less than £1 an hour more for someone who needs nursing care compared to someone in residential care.
“It means people who need that care aren’t going to be able to get it, and they’re going to be staying in hospital longer than they need to.”
The Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales said: “There has been a significant rise in the acuity of people’s needs in recent years and this presents a challenge.
“It has resulted in vacancies in traditional residential care and higher demand for more complex care.
“We believe that new legislation provides a positive opportunity to improve the way care is commissioned and focus on achieving the best outcomes for people.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “Whilst recruitment of registered nurses is a challenge across the UK, in Wales we continue to invest in the education and training of nurses, boosting nurse training places by 10% in 2018/19.”