Care Home Fee Increase

ldoak3004

I would be grateful if anyone has some advice. My father is currently in a Private care home in Scotland and has been resident there for one year. Last year his Care home fees increased by 4.79% and this year they have increased By 8.75% due to an annual review which means we are now having to pay an extra £230-00 a month which I think is quite excessive considering his needs have not changed much since he moved in. We are currently in the process of selling his house to continue funding for the home however we are now concerned that if the fees keep going up at this rate the capital will diminish very quickly and unfortunately may be forced to another home.

My father is self funding due to having assets over £23,000, he also receives £237.00 a weeks for nursing/personal care allowance and pays the balance himself which is £510.00 per week.

So my question is can I do anything about this rise which i fell is very excessive?

Thank you

John_Pierpoint

Scotland is always held up to those of us South of the Border as the "Shangri - La" of elder care, with the local authority chipping in sizeable grants for "care"?

http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/paying_for_a_home/paying_for_care_and_support/paying_for_a_care_home

Down here in England, there is an argument for getting the local authority to negotiate the care home fees, because they get volume discounts and the the "self funders" subsidise the local authority placements.

However the standards achieved by care homes, prepared to take local authority sponsored placements, might not be those demanded by "father" or perhaps more often by the "guilty" younger generation who want to be seen to be getting the best for their elderly relative.

ldoak3004

Thanks for your reply but your comments don't really help me.
With regards to Scotland being held as the Shangri-la of elder care I fell this is a huge misconception, my father I would, say is in an average care home and for the price he is paying you would expect exceptional care but unfortunately this is not the case. Even though it looks like Scotland has the better deal with the free nursing care and personal care, trust me the cost of the home each year is soaring, in fact some of the biggest rises in care homes fees in the UK just now are in Scotland. Has this something to do with the fact that we are in receipt of this allowance and care homes are now taking advantage of this by levying unrealistic and inflated annual charges.
My father is now having to pay £40,000 a year for the home he is currently residing in were I have seen some residents have to ask 3 or 4 times to be taken to the toilet, left in there wheel chairs in a room from the minute they get up in the morning until the minute they go to bed and have even witnessed some carers shout at residents - very Shangri-la!!!
The only thing I can say about the care system is that it sucks!

John_Pierpoint

I suppose that in Scotland the state was (say) paying 50% of the costs of a "posh" care home, so a year later the care home does its accounts and says "We need a 10% increase, so that is 5% from the state and 5% from the inmates" of the total. However the state says "we have no more money" so the home turns to the family of the rich inmate and says so you have to pay the 10%, which comes to what you perceive at 20% of your share. IYSWIM.

£40 k per year is £769 per week. Down here in the "soft south" (ie below that line from the Wash to the Bristol Channel, care in a room with space for say chairs and a coffee table as well as a bed and a hoist, and a view of a garden (rather than a car park) can be North of £1,000 a week for someone "self funding" in the twilight zone of Alzheimer's.

Now shall we talk about the extras - such as dental treatment?