Care home crisis after talks fail on funding

SCOTLAND’S care homes are facing crisis after funding talks broke down.

Scottish Care, the representative body for homes, said it was forced to abandon negotiations after failing to secure enough money to meet growing costs.

Each year, Scottish Care is involved in discussions with the Scottish Government, councils and health boards to set the annual fees for nursing and residential care in Scotland.

But it said this year’s negotiations are now at the stage of ‘virtual collapse’ after being offered a less than 1 per cent increase in funding.

It claimed that would be ‘impossible’ for its members, including several hundred familyrun care homes and many charities around the country, to accept without putting their homes at very real risk of closure.

Dr Donald Macaskill, the Chief Executive of Scottish Care said: ‘It is with very deep regret that we have decided to make public the virtual breakdown of our discussions with Scottish Government and others. We believe that it is no longer acceptable for us to remain silent about the lack of investment which the Government is prepared to make in the care home sector in Scotland.

‘In recent months providers have been faced with substantial increases in the cost of fuel, food and other commodities, averaging around 8.5 per cent. A less than 1 per cent increase will simply not enable care homes to stay in business.

‘Many nursing homes are finding it impossible to recruit nurses. We have a one in four vacancy level and to meet gaps care homes are having to pay as much as £800 a night to find a nurse.

‘I recognise that we live in hard times faced as we all are with austerity and public sector cuts. But at present a nursing home is allocated only £3.85 per hour for the 24/7 nursing care of thousands of our vulnerable older people, the majority of whom are in a palliative or end of life context.

‘For me this isn’t so much about finance but about the price we are prepared to pay for preserving the dignity of our older Scots and enabling them to exercise choice and control over their options for high quality care provision.’

Labour Social Care spokesman Colin Smyth said yesterday: ‘While warnings ring out about the risk of care homes closing because of the SNP’s cuts to local councils, Nicola Sturgeon and her government are more interested in dividing Scotland.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘National Care Home Contract negotiations are between local government through (councils’ association the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) and providers through their representative bodies Scottish Care and the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland, however we believe that the offer being made by Cosla is a reasonable and fair one.

‘We have provided significant investment to support social care.’

‘Allocated only £3.85 per hour’