Nursing homes issue funds warning

Private nursing homes are seeking more funding

Scotland's private nursing homes have warned that many face closure unless payments from local authorities are increased.

The organisation which represents 800 of the 1,100 private residential homes in Scotland has warned that others will have to refuse to take council-funded residents.

Leaders of Scottish Care met officials at the Scottish Executive on Tuesday to put their case for more funding.

More than 70% of the 34,000 elderly people now in nursing homes or residential care have their places paid for by local authorities.

If we are not around as a sector, the financial effect on the country will be enormous, because other forms of care are much more expensive

Jim Proctor
Scottish Care

Scottish Care said they need an extra £55 per week to look after each resident if the homes are to break even.

An executive spokesperson said: "We had a helpful and constructive meeting today with Scottish Care and we are pleased that they have agreed to a further meeting with Cosla (The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities), the voluntary sector and ourselves.

"We recognise the urgency of this situation and will be seeking to set this meeting up at the earliest possible opportunity. This is a complex issue which will require the active involvement of all parties.

"We look forward to making progress with Scottish Care and Cosla on resolving this situation for all parties involved - not least Scotland's older people."

Jim Proctor, a care home owner in Helensburgh and senior Scottish Care representative, said changes must be made quickly.

He said: "The simple arithmetic, an exercise which we undertook and which has been backed up by independent assessors, means that we should be getting, as a minimum, £55-a-week more.

Increasing pressure

"With things like the increase in the minimum wage coming in, we need to look at it again.

"However, I must emphasise that it doesn't affect the people we are looking after, what it does do is increase the pressure on our finances.

"Our overdraft's got bigger, basically."

He added: "If we are not around as a sector, the financial effect on the country will be enormous, because other forms of care are much more expensive."

About 100 homes have closed in the last year.

Scottish Care has warned that if the rest are to survive they will have to stop taking council-funded patients.

What we would be suggesting would be the linking of fees to the quality of care and the level of support

Rita Miller
Cosla

The government would then be faced with a hospital bill of £80,000 a year for many patients, compared with the £17,500 it costs for a nursing home.

The executive said funding was primarily a matter for the local authorities, but it had been working with councils to try to find a way round the problem.

Cosla, which represents Scotland's councils, admits that the situation is far from ideal, but wants to see more than just money thrown at the problem.

Cosla's Rita Miller said: "We would be concerned about having person-centred care and very much tailoring the care package to the person.

"Therefore a set rate isn't really the way forward, so what we would be suggesting would be the linking of fees to the quality of care and the level of support, and that requires a lot of discussion."