Frail elderly people in Carmarthenshire are being treated like second class citizens because of a massive cross-border gap in care funding, it\u2019s claimed.<\/p>\n
Research has revealed that Carmarthenshire County Council pays \u00a38,500 a year less per person towards providing nursing care than their counterparts in neighbouring Ceredigion.<\/p>\n
The owner of a care home in Carmarthenshire, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals by the county council, said the \u201cgrossly unfair inequality of funding\u201d was having a direct impact on care home residents and their families.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a view supported by social care champions Care Forum Wales that\u2019s campaigning for the end of the postcode lottery which enables Welsh councils to pay as little as they want, whatever the actual costs of providing care.<\/p>\n
The care home owner said: \u201cHow can it be that councils can pay different amounts depending on which care home you\u2019re in, when the required care is the same?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe funding difference means that we can\u2019t make ends meet on the Carmarthenshire fee rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ceredigion fee rate is closer to our costs but on the Carmarthenshire rate we can\u2019t make it work.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, we\u00a0have to ask our residents and their families to contribute to the cost of the care when actually it should be their entitlement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe inequity is that people living in Carmarthenshire, if they need to go into a care home, need to pay towards covering the cost because the care home can\u2019t cover the cost from the fees.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile over in Ceredigion, our neighbouring council, residents don\u2019t need to do that because the care homes are being paid enough and they can cover their costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a massive inequality which is now being passed on to\u00a0the citizens of Carmarthenshire.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is so unfair on the families and the care home residents. It is causing them financial distress.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hurts us to be charging them, because of a funding shortfall which has been created by the council, but we\u00a0have to save the home \u2013 we won\u2019t be able to provide the service unless our costs are covered.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some care homes who are so desperate just to fill the beds that they will not charge a third party contribution.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what we are finding is the council will only recommend those homes which are not charging which might be miles away from where the family lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if the family can\u2019t pay, they may have to travel a long distance to find a home.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, good\u00a0care is about giving a good service and delivering a good outcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is so difficult for us to sit there and say to families \u2018sorry, if you\u00a0can\u2019t pay this, we are going to have to serve notice\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very unfair to hang this problem onto the provider.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some providers over the last few years who have not been able to cope with this and the result is that we have lost two or three homes in Carmarthenshire, they\u00a0actually closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo either providers become hard and save their homes, or providers exit because they can\u2019t cope with working with the pressure of working with a shortfall in funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then what becomes of the residents?\u201d<\/p>\n
The care\u00a0home owner said they would rather remain anonymous because local authorities have ways to penalise homes if they speak out on fee shortfalls.<\/p>\n
They said: \u201cCouncils have lots of levers.One is not referring potential residents to your home.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you must remember the councils are the judges of our quality of service, we can be criticised for anything on our service by them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they know compassion and providing a service to those in need is our weakness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is one of the reasons why we have lost 40 care homes in the last three years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chair of Care Forum Wales Mario Kreft MBE said to have some residents receive less funding was creating an inequality in care in Wales.<\/p>\n
Mr Kreft said: \u201cThis is an issue about equality,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0about care home residents getting\u00a0more or\u00a0getting\u00a0less care.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an inequality between Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel some of our local authorities are not basing their fees on methodology anybody understands, it\u2019s a race to the bottom with most of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the care fee levels in\u00a0South West Wales and in North Wales were particularly low.<\/p>\n
Mr Kreft said: \u201cIf you think of North Wales, they are all the same with the exception of\u00a0Conwy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think of South\u00a0West\u00a0Wales, they are all the same\u00a0with the exception of Ceredigion.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo\u00a0they\u00a0are\u00a0basically like\u00a0a bunch of rotten boroughs in the\u00a0south west\u00a0and the north, with two exceptions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd those two exceptions are still less in the entitlement an individual would gain than in the very south east\u00a0of Wales where\u00a0everything\u00a0seems to be\u00a0run\u00a0from\u00a0and people\u00a0seem to get\u00a0more resources than anywhere else.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe promotion of inequality in the social care sector in Wales is astounding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am astonished that after 25 years of devolution that we have come to this.<\/p>\n
\u201cWales was always about equality, but you would struggle to find it when it comes to the entitlement of social care services.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe there is an institutional prejudice in these public bodies and the people who work in them that is anti-private sector social\u00a0care<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we need to remember that most of the care in Wales is provided by the private sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re talking about the care of the most frail and vulnerable people in our communities so treating them like second class citizens if is exceptionally cruel and heartless.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s totally unacceptable that Carmarthenshire County Council is ignoring Welsh Labour Government advice and is promoting such inequality in Wales.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose making these decisions should consider positions.\u201d<\/p>\n