Elderly face postcode care lottery

Fears have been raised vulnerable older people are facing a “postcode lottery” for care because care home firms are only expanding in richer areas.

A new probe by healthcare analysts Laing & Buisson found private care firms are targeting affluent parts of the UK where more elderly people can afford to foot the bill for their own care.

It said providers are reluctant to risk expanding into poorer areas as residents tend to rely on cash-strapped councils to pay their fees.

Labour’s Shadow Care Minister, Liz Kendall, said: “The development of new care homes, or the expansion of existing homes, is being almost entirely confined to places where people have enough money to pay for their own care.

“Labour has been warning about this for months.”

Those with assets of at least £23,500, including the equity in their home, must pay their fees themselves.

Some care homes charge these self-funders up to £1,000 a week. Poorer pensioners whose fees are paid in full by the state are typically charged far less.

The Fair Price of Care report reveals that, on average, English councils paid £500 a week to private care homes in 2013/14.

But that’s up to £130 less than the real cost of care.

It reads: “The fees are inadequate to incentivise independent sector providers to develop new care home capacity for frail older and older mentally infirm people dependent on state funding.

“Such new capacity is primarily targeted at a private paying clientele in affluent areas.”

The care home funding system is due to change in 2016 with the introduction of a cap on the amount the elderly should have to spend on care in their lifetime.

However, care providers have been calling for more money from the UK Government.

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of the English Community Care Association, said: “Local Authority funding for Care homes has been lagging behind the true cost of care for many years.

“Underfunding will lead to severe difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff and all this is happening at a time when the need is increasing and the population is aging.

“If the Government refuses to rise to this challenge, the future for citizens who need care and support will be bleak.”