By David Williams
The closure of recession-hit care homes for elderly and disabled people is placing increasing strain on councils, according to the Local Government Association.
The closure of recession-hit care homes for elderly and disabled people is placing increasing strain on councils, according to the Local Government Association.Privately run care homes, which most local authorities depend on to provide care services, have closed in one in seven local authority areas.
Three-quarters of councils are now bracing themselves for further closures.
The LGA said local authorities could take action to protect vital services, and that everyone must now be involved in a debate about how social care is provided.
LGA chair Margaret Eaton said: ‘Steps to help care homes stay open are among the many examples of things councils are doing to protect their residents from the downturn.
‘People who live in care homes are some of the most vulnerable in the country. Any warning signs that there could be problems providing places where they can be properly cared for need to be identified in good time, which councils are clearly doing.’
Some councils across the country have already taken action to deal with the consequences of a shortage of care home places.
Somerset County Council has been working with a local body representing care providers to identify struggling homes before they reach crisis point, and offering extra payments to homes providing the highest standards of care.
It has also given firms more stability by awarding fixed contracts with a guaranteed set income, regardless of how many care home places are used.
Southampton City Council has entered into a deal with private health care giant Bupa to provide extra nursing beds and a day centre for people with dementia. Under the public-private partnership contract, the council supplied the land and agreed to buy 40 out of the home’s 70 beds for the next 25 years.
Matthew Waters, the council’s commissioner for adult care services, told Public Finance that, although the home is being built in response to rising demand for dementia services, ‘this helps future-proof us’.
He added: ‘We have a number of beds that we know we have for the next 25 years, full stop. It accounts for about half of what we require for dementia.’
He added that the arrangement was also more reliable and no more expensive than simply buying beds in private homes, and sidestepped the potentially time-consuming tendering process.
In neighbouring Hampshire, private home closures have led the county council and strategic health authority to enter into partnership to build new publicly funded, publicly run homes providing 500 beds.
The number of people aged over 65 is predicted to increase by around 3 million to 11.4 million by 2025.
