Why is the cost of care so high?

Families pay the 'top up'. Social services tell you the elderly person can not pay it themselves even if they have the money.
I know, I've been there.

It’s a terrible system, the only winners are those that are so poor they are fully funded from day one, those that are so rich they can afford to self fund anyway, and the private nursing home chains. Asset stripping is the right description and it isn’t sustainable, because the inheritances that used to enable people to purchase a home are now being handed over to private care companies.

I have personal experience of friends and family looking after the elderly parents with dementia - no help or support from anyone, and no money to afford a care home, even a cheap one. Its terrible, unfair and soul destroying.

As I said earlier, I worked with later care providers. What I said is literally something I've heard in a meeting. I just highlighted that for these people, its a business, nothing else.

This is so upsetting to read. My parents each spent eight years in a care home before death: one with dementia, one lucid but physically frail (my mum). I cared for her at home first, for almost two years, but it nearly broke me and I had to put her in a home. They weren’t mega wealthy; had a few tens of thousands in the bank as life savings plus a three bed semi in the south east. If they’d died before needing care they might have left half a million including the house. As it was, all the money went on their care, and I spent 16 years as an only child who was therefore solely responsible for making sure they were ok (tbf Mum did a lot of it for Dad, who went first, but then it was her turn). The care homes were decent enough but not perfect, the emotional burden was still huge, and my parents had a pretty terrible quality of life towards the end in both cases. Your post has really hurt.

I’d agree it’s unsustainable. I think lots of prople won’t own houses when they get to the point of needing care homes over the next few decades. Council is already skint, I’m really uncertain how we can support an aging population with a decreasing pool of self funders.

There’s almost an incentive not to save unless you are fairly well off as can get pension credit if no private pension. However even a small private pension can mean you don’t qualify leaving you worse off.

That makes sense to me.
My parent is in an expensive care home. Her fairly expensive house is paying for it. I am unlikely to inherit anything. My own home is less than half the value of my parent's. My children have as yet been unable to get on the property ladder. I'm not sure that the current system is sustainable for more than a few years.

True @rickyrickygrimes. We go from free-at-the-point-of -use healthcare to the most ruthlessly privatised elderly care system and it's an absolute shock to the system. We can't even take out insurance to cushion the blow, but I think that's inevitable in the future - as each generation ages, lives longer and there are fewer assets to strip, fewer homeowners.

I think also that because the NHS is free at the point of care, people in the UK are not routinely exposed to the true cost of medical and other care. In France, we get charged-then-reimbursed for many things from surgery / stays in hospitals, to prescription medications to equipment and other supplies. We had a run of small operations in our family last year (broken bones, elective shoulder surgery, uerine polyp removal) all of which involved a hospital overnight, general anaesthetic and surgery. The final bills are detailed, and although we only paid a few hundred (because we went private) the costs of the anaesthetist, the private room, the surgeon's fee, the operating team etc are all detailed on the bill. The anaesthetist alone was €700+ for my last operation. But anyone being treated in the UK doesn't see any of this, so it's a big shock. A friend who was receiving treatment for cancer saw quite clearly that her weekly medication was in the region of €2,000 per dose - though she didn't pay any of that, it was on the paperwork.

You do, but that's exactly why finding a nice home for elderly loved ones is not such a bad thing

On a practical level if you have a job and are a carer for an elderly relative with no real government support then what are your options. You try your best to keep everyone clean and fed and a roof over your heads.

So much for the idea that elderly relatives are lovingly cared for by their family at home in an extended family set up!

I manage a 24/7 team. The calculation we use for one person to cover one duty 24/7 is 5.6 people. To cover leave and training and sickness and maternity and all that stuff.
So 5.6 people's salary for ONE member of staff. At £25k that’s £140k they have to find.

Volunteer in a care home and then you'll work out why!

People don't afford it out of income. They afford it out of asset sales (and income) or the council pays.

That's the economic reality of care homes.

Then live in care, if 24/7, will be eye watering because of the number of staff you need for one person - Staffing is high.in care homes but at least they are looking after more than one at once.

One of the few care in the home companies that is UK owned is Caremark. Bluebird care and home instead are American owned investments. A bit off topic but when choosing care one thing we can do it back the British businesses, that goes for care homes as well.

Imagine you’re staying in a hotel, full board, with nursing care provided on top. With the ratio of staff high enough to help keep everyone safe, and the heating up high in winter because when older people cannot move around much, they feel the cold.

Even if it was provided on a not for profit basis, it would be expensive.

It gets really expensive with dementia, it could be 5 years at £100,000 per year, all savings and inheritance gone.

Sorry if it came across nasty. I have worked with later living providers and became quite cynical - it is a business, and a very profitable one.

I am well aware how difficult it is to look after the elderly relative, especially with dementia, the dedication and the heartbreak. Which makes the whole care home charade even more distasteful.

Many struggle to break even loads have shut down there money outs with enormous overheads

it work out at between £6/7 an hour to care,house and feed someone

In a way you get what you pay for. I was talking to a friend from Bulgaria and there is an expectation that it’ll be done within the family. It’s not care as we’d describe it though more a shunting into a bedroom and being fed / nappies being changed a few times a day and expectation they will die shortly. They generally do with life expectancy being one of the lowest in Europe.

I read an interesting article some time ago about the way care homes are structured. Quite often the building is owned by a different company which charges a whacking great rent. This protects the building from being an asset if the care business was to go under but also disguises profits. So care home books are showing a small or no profit but the company who owns the building is generating a solid 15% return on investment annually.

Not saying it’s true of your mum’s or all care homes but it opened my eyes at how a quick look at accounts may not reveal the whole story.

That is a really nasty post. Many, many people look after their elderly parents/spouse for as long as they can physically and mentally cope. It is a really hard decision to make to put a parent/spouse into a care home. Once you do that you are not allowed to spend any of their money. It all goes to the care home, even after their death, until all the charges are paid in full.
What many people don't appreciate is that even when your relative is in a home you have to go every day to make sure they are being fed, watered and given their medication. You have to take them to hospital appointments because there aren't enough staff to escort them. You constantly have to find the missing clothes, glasses, dentures, hearing aids and replace every time they are lost.
The elderly spouse still living in the home (not worth millions in most cases) still has to pay for gas and electric, home insurance, contents insurance, telephone, wifi, and probably for help with cleaning etc. The only tiny concession is a small reduction on council tax. They are not allowed to spend any of their spouse's money on these things and it can be very hard. They are responsible for paying the care home fees each month and have to keep records of everything because SS will go through everything. It is extremely stressful.

Don't forget though that having the money buys you choice. If you don't have savings or a house to sell then your care is at the whim of the council and it's very very difficult to get a place in a care home. As it's thought to be acceptable for an elderly person to live alone with four short carer visits a day, in the same room as their commode.

Having money buys you choice about where to go and when you go. My elderly chose to go into residential care for peace of mind, chose a lovely home and really flourished there. If she'd been limited to council funding she'd have been on her own at home, lonely and frightened for much of the day apart from a few visits from carers.

I thought 5k a month was bad!

Care homes are catering for people who own houses worth millions. So, considering that, on average, a resident doesn't live more than a year in a care home its a good bet for someone who wants to unlock the inheritance before dear demented mummy is dead: put her into care home, spend some crazy money without feeling guilty and still gain a few million from the house sale.

This. Self funders subsidise Council funded residents. It is a hugely unfair system, especially given that when the money runs out, there is no guarantee that the same Council you subsidised, will actually keep you in the same home and may well shift you to a cheaper home. Of course if you hadn't been subsidising other residents, you may very well have had enough funds to stay there for a good while longer.

For some reason, there seems very little appetite at Government level to deal with the care sector. It is a shit show. I feel for those who work within it. There are some good homes, but they are few and far between. It needs to be looked at in conjunction with the NHS as it is a major cause for bed blocking.

Also, many families struggle on as it is so difficult to access appropriate care for their loved ones. My FB carer group feed is full of despairing families who are on their knees trying to keep their loved ones safe and looked after.