Homes still on brink as cash stalls
EMERGENCY cash promised by PM Boris Johnson to help care homes survive has failed to get through – despite warnings of closures.
Ministers have been told a £3.2billion fund announced last month had been “ineffective”.
And care home managers fear another £600million announced by the PM in the Commons last week would not get to them fast enough to avert a collapse in the sector.
Mr Johnson slipped out the figure when he was put on the back foot by Labour leader Keir Starmer during Prime Minister’s Questions.
But the funding has not yet had Whitehall clearance.
Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “We are waiting for the formal announcement of the £600million for infection control, but are very concerned that it appears to have been allocated via local authorities as this route has proved to be ineffective at getting funds where they are needed.”
The row comes as the Government was forced to confirm that fatalities in care homes account for around 40 per cent of UK coronavirus deaths.
Care England, which represents care providers, has estimated 1,500 homes could go under as they fail to meet the soaring costs of protecting residents against Covid-19.
If those homes shut, up to 60,000 residents will need to be moved.
Many more of the UK’S 500,000 care home residents are facing an uncertain future as costs rise. The Government cash is supposed to help cover PPE, costs of agency staff and falling occupancy rates.
But it has been allocated through local councils, many of which have used it for shielding arrangements for those in the high risk category, rough sleepers or other virus costs.
Some care home operators have reported bureaucratic delays and council officials insisting on placing their own experts in homes.
The Local Government Association said the £3.2billion was “not ringfenced” and had to be spent on “other important council services”.