Sometimes it is care, not funding, that’s lacking

sir – We were not asked to pay for help or advice to secure care funding for my housebound wife (report, December 30), as it was readily agreed to by our local NHS Care Commissioning Group.

Our difficulty is that we cannot find anyone prepared to provide the care, despite this funding being available.

My wife, who has multiple health problems, should have two carers for an hour each morning, and two for an hour each evening – 28 hours’ care a week for at least £20 an hour. Yet, no home-care agency in our area is willing to accept £560 a week to provide this level of care.

It turns on its head the common response that “we have the people but not the money”.

Sadly, we are told we are not alone. She is in her late seventies, I am in my eighties, yet I continue to be her main carer, despite my own poor health.

Allan Muirhead

Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria

sir – I am currently paying more than £75,000 a year for my wife’s dementia care, admittedly with some help from Surrey County Council. The state alone could not possibly fund such heavy costs, particularly as the needs of an ageing population will call for an ever-increasing pot.

This is a huge problem that needs some form of cross-party research, in order to come up with something that is both realistic and affordable before any solution can be considered.

I choose to have my wife in a care home, where I am confident that she is very well looked after, but others prefer to keep their loved one at home with them.

My research demonstrated that there is a very wide variety of care available but, essentially, you get what you pay for. Social care is a ticking time bomb and there is no easy resolution.

Roger Howard

Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire