Birmingham city council criticised for care homes rise
OWNERS of Birmingham’s private care homes say they are facing “financial suicide” after the city council increased fees by only one per cent.
The decision means the amount the homes get to look after local authority clients will rise by just 49p a day for a single room. Describing the offer as “unsustainable”, the organisation representing private care home owners is demanding urgent talks with social services bosses.
Birmingham Care Consortium secretary Les Latcham accused the council of behaving unreasonably and said his members would refuse to sign new contracts.
He pointed out that the council is behaving far more generously when it comes to funding its own homes, where budgets are rising by 6.7 per cent.
From this month, the council will pay £525 a week to accommodate an elderly person in one of its own homes and £350 for a bed in a private home.
With private homes providing 85 per cent of elderly care in Birmingham, BCC’s stance is likely to make a shortage of residential care even worse and may result in elderly people “blocking beds” in hospital because places in homes cannot be found for them.
