22 September 2006
Almost 3,500 public sector care home places for elderly and disabled people were lost last year and fewer than one third were replaced by independent provision, a report says.
Care of elderly people UK market survey 2006, by analysts Laing and Buisson, found that 3,478 places were lost in NHS and local authority care homes in the past financial year.
Only 1,252 new places were created in the private and voluntary sector, resulting in a net loss of 2,226.
The report follows concerns over increased bed blocking in some areas of the country.
The availability of care home places was lowest in London — at 73% of the UK average, the report found. East Anglia (82%) and the northern Home Counties (87%) were also significantly below average.
Although the rate of care home closures has dropped by 50% since 2004/05, report author Alexa Fernandez warned: 'While some of the future rise in demand may be met by alternative models of care, such as domiciliary care and extra care, traditional care home capacity must be rebuilt.'
A spokesman for Age Concern England said he had similar concerns. But he added that his organisation was not happy that the residents of NHS or local authority care homes being closed were being transferred to the private sector.
Not only did the stress of transfer damage their health, he said, but private care homes remained outside the Human Rights Act.
'This continued loophole means that a transfer to a private care homes entails a significant drop in a resident's rights,' he suggested.
PFsep2006
