A company with six care homes in Pembrokeshire has revealed it\u2019s facing a \u00a3150,000 hit as a result of controversial Budget measures.<\/p>\n
The hikes in National Insurance payments, as well as increases in the Real Living Wage, will see care homes facing “12 months of instability”, according to Mike Davies from Sunset West Care Homes.<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Davies,\u00a0the\u00a0managing director of\u00a0Sunset West Care Homes\u2019 holding company\u00a0Dale Roads Group Ltd.<\/p>\n
The group\u2019s six care homes include Langton Hall Residential Home in Fishguard, Pen-Coed Residential Home in Saundersfoot and Woodfield Nursing Residential Home in Narberth.<\/p>\n
Its other homes are Woodland Lodge Residential Home in Tenby, Torestin Care Home in Tiers Cross near Haverfordwest and Pembroke Haven in Pembroke Dock.<\/p>\n
Mr Davies predicted\u00a0some struggling care homes will have to ask families to help meet the cost of the care of their loved ones.<\/p>\n
He is supporting a new campaign launched by Care Forum Wales (CFW) calling for social care to receive an NHS-style exemption from the National Insurance increases or emergency financial support to stop care homes and domiciliary care companies going bust.<\/p>\n
CFW chair Mario Kreft MBE is leading the group\u2019s new campaign, Save Social Care, Save the NHS.<\/p>\n
He has outlined the organisation\u2019s stark warning in a letter to Welsh MPs, Senedd members along with First Minister Eluned Morgan and Health Minister Jeremy Miles.<\/p>\n
A similar letter has gone to Prime Minister Kier Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves.<\/p>\n
The campaign is being supported by the Five Nations Group which represents care organisations from across the UK and Eire.<\/p>\n
They all agree that third sector providers, including charities and hospices, will also be put at risk by the \u201cruinous measures\u201d contained in the Budget.<\/p>\n
Mr Davies said he shared those concerns and said\u00a0his company\u2019s six\u00a0care homes\u00a0were facing an additional\u00a0total\u00a0bill of more than \u00a3130,000 just to meet the National Insurance increase.<\/p>\n
On top of that the company has also calculated the costs of paying Statutory Sick Pay on the first day of sickness for the group, based on current levels of sickness, would incur an annual cost of an extra \u00a318,000 .<\/p>\n
And he said the group, which has 169 registered beds,\u00a0would take another financial hit to meet the cost of the wage hike\u00a0unless extra funding was provided by\u00a0Cardiff Bay and Westminster.<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Davies, who has been involved in the care sector for more than 30 years, said\u00a0the additional costs outlined in the Budget\u00a0were a further blow to care homes which were still trying to recover from the Covid emergency.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cOperating during Covid, staff resources were pushed to the limit.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody was tired and fatigued from getting the job done, it\u2019s been tough, and now we have these additional costs to deal with from the Budget.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe if the costs stay stationary now, we would be looking at an extra \u00a3130,000 \u00a0plus for\u00a0National Insurance.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we haven\u2019t even looked at the increase in wages yet, but that \u00a3130 0,000 is a snapshot of the challenges we are facing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really believe we will be going into uncharted territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe social care sector in Pembrokeshire will become unstable.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have seen home closures already and the likelihood going forward is the smaller operator will find it more difficult\u00a0.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are relying on additional money to meet the new costs.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said where that\u00a0required\u00a0extra funding\u00a0following the Budget\u00a0would come from would be a key question.<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Davies said the local authority would have to step in to help, and families of residents might also have to be asked to contribute to the shortfall.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cEighty per cent of our occupancy in the county is actually from local authority placements.\u00a0So\u00a0the local authority would be the people that would need to look at it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is a shortfall then we would be using an additional voluntary contribution from families.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to be talking to our MP and all the politicians in\u00a0Pembrokeshire, we\u2019re working on that now, because the cost of care is going to increase massively.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a 1.2 per cent rise in Employer National Insurance contributions and a cut to the Secondary Threshold to \u00a35,000 alongside the five per cent increase in the Real Living Wage to \u00a312.60, Care Forum Wales (CFW) has\u00a0calculated the sector in Wales faces a \u00a3150 million funding hole to plug.<\/p>\n
According to the CFW chair Mario Kreft MBE, the only way to avert the funding crisis was for the social care sector to be granted an NHS-style exemption from the increases in employers\u2019 National Insurance contributions or failing that support to meet the other additional costs.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt represents a 37% increase in employer NIC for a member of staff earning \u00a325,000 a year which equates to the Real Living wage<\/p>\n
\u201cIf social care can\u2019t be exempted, then the huge extra financial costs imposed as a result of the Budget must be paid for one way or another because this is a tax on publicly funded care, a tax on working people that\u2019s going to hit families.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr\u00a0Davies said: \u201cI would absolutely back that, we do need that. That would be really helpful.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have discussed\u00a0funding issues\u00a0with local authorities and their concern is they don\u2019t have the money either, the council tax won\u2019t cover it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to have to be the Welsh Government and then Westminster feeding into it.\u201d<\/p>\n