Anna B Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 So, this is what it's come to... An elderly couple married for 67 years face separation as the council refuses to fund their care home fees, which are £8,000 a month. They have already sold their £156,000 house and used all their savings to pay for the care home which costs £975 per week for Mrs Springett, 86, who suffers from Alzheimer's, and £925 per week for 91 year old Mr Springett who is more able to look after himself but still needs help with some basic tasks and suffers from arthritis and needs a walking frame. Solihull council is prepared to pay £500 towards Mrs Springett's fees but the family will have to pay a top up fee of £475 a week. However the council will not pay for Mr Springett who they say can live alone in a flat with carers coming in. I'm not blaming the council so much as the care home. On what planet should care cost getting on for £8,000 a month? Ridiculous. When my Gran was in a very comfortable care home in the 1970s it was run by the Council, and was free at the point of use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithy266 Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Have a look at how the owners of care homes live.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECCOnoob Posted September 24, 2018 Share Posted September 24, 2018 Link to the Source please or it didn't happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted September 24, 2018 Author Share Posted September 24, 2018 (edited) Have a look at how the owners of care homes live.... I suspect Someone, somewhere, is getting very rich out of all this... Edited September 24, 2018 by Anna B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peak4 Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Link to the Source please or it didn't happen. Just type "Springett care home" into Google and read any of the first half dozen links; it's really not that hard to find out, though there may be a different number of links by the time you read this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna B Posted September 25, 2018 Author Share Posted September 25, 2018 As Peak4 says, there are lots of links, this is just one from 'The Times' https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/couple-face-life-apart-after-67-years-due-to-care-costs-k5pgcbm0f Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janus Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 As the difficulty in recruiting the carers, this problem will probably get worse. Currently the care job vacancies in England stands at 110,000. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45593814 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Cid Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 I'm not blaming the council so much as the care home. On what planet should care cost getting on for £8,000 a month? Ridiculous. When my Gran was in a very comfortable care home in the 1970s it was run by the Council, and was free at the point of use. Both you and the council think £8,000 per month is too much money, yet you think the council should contribute towards the costs? Its a similar situation with housing benefit, there is a rate which the council will pay, but it won't pay for people on benefits to live in a mansion. ---------- Post added 25-09-2018 at 06:32 ---------- As the difficulty in recruiting the carers, this problem will probably get worse. Currently the care job vacancies in England stands at 110,000. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45593814 How much are they paying, £15 per hour and I would think about moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclone Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 I suspect Someone, somewhere, is getting very rich out of all this... You've said this before, several years ago care home fees were extortionate. And then it was demonstrated over a number of months how care homes were going bankrupt and closing because they couldn't actually afford to stay open! ---------- Post added 25-09-2018 at 07:24 ---------- As the difficulty in recruiting the carers, this problem will probably get worse. Currently the care job vacancies in England stands at 110,000. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45593814 Carers are typically paid minimum wage aren't they. So £8000 a month is not just covering the pay of 2 or 4 carers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgksheff Posted September 25, 2018 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Figures suggest that the fees at this care home are nearly double the national average. The reported council offered contribution in this case appears to be around the national average. Should this couple be looking at cheaper alternatives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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