Why is the cost of care so high?

There will be a dignitas on every high street I imagine! 😂

I have seen something about a lot of the better care homes have sprung up to cater for those with lots of funds due to house price increases and the ma only be in business for a couple of generations

Absolutely right. I wonder what will happen a few generations down the line when not so many people are house-owners able to fund their own care. Surely something will have to change in the future?

The family doesn't have to afford it it is the assets of the person going into the home. If they have savings and own a house they have to pay until their money runs out then the council will pay they might have to move to a cheaper home though. Never sign anything on behalf of the person going into the home that states you will be responsible for any fees.

This is often forgotten when people talk about local authority places. The care homes dont necessarily get that much less.

My mum is in a prvate carehome and a look at their accounts on Companies House website shoes profits are not massive. Essential around £50000 which is a midlevel salary for the owner.

I don’t think it’s fair that self funders pay more and subsidise council funded residents. There should be a set amount the council pays and then you can top up if you want to, for everyone.

As usual in this country those that worked hard and looked after themselves have to continue to pay for those that didn’t. There’s also the fact that if you’ve got nothing then it’s an easy choice for someone else to pay for the care. Those that maybe want to protect even a small amount of saved money from the greedy care home owners getting the money are forced to try and struggle on doing their own care.

My elderly Father sold his home to fund his care. It wasnt locked away

Not sure what average income has to do with care home fees. If someone has a house that needs to be sold to fund the care (otherwise tax payers would pay).

I keep hearing that not many people end up in a care home and I am sure that is correct but both my parents ended up in one. One for nearly 4 years! He had to sell his house to fund the care (and he was also paying considerably more than someone who was funded by the local authority as they dont pay the going rate)

I wonder what the cost of care would be in an alternative universe where we didn't have a housing bubble and there weren't vast sums of money locked up in property owned by elderly people?

The Herald newspaper has a series of articles on social care at the moment, this is from today's:

"Echoing the other care workers The Herald spoke to, Tamara said the pay - £12.60 an hour from this year - did not match the responsibility of the job.
She said: "What sane person would want to take on the responsibility you’ve got in a care home, where you’ve got people’s lives in your hands, for £12.60 an hour when you could go to Aldi and get paid almost £15?"

Staff get paid buttons for a really hard job.

I don’t think anyone who has a relative in a care home begrudges the care staff a penny of their wages, and most people probably think they should be paid far more.

It’s the vast profits that these places make which is the issue. I understand perfectly that they are businesses not charities, but owning a care home or 10 is basically a licence to print money.

That's the motivation of the owners but fortunately in my mum's home the residents were the staff's priority.

Care homes, nurseries, it's all the same - the first priority isn't the kids or vulnerable people they look after. It's profit, what with them being businesses, not charities.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/mar/12/private-nursery-chains-profits-england

If a nursery place costs £2k pm and is open 10 hours a day, it stands to reason that a care home would cost more than double that. The buildings will be bigger so more utility bills, they will need more staff such as ones with medical knowledge and more cleaners etc too.

Thats the choice of the home though. It’s a bit like hotels they will sell off the rooms cheaper to have greater occupancy. The one my great uncle was in was really upfront about only accepting self funders. After three years if funds ran out then they could stay on LA rate but be moved to a cheaper room round the back ( he was paying a lot for a fancy room with a sea view). He was expected to die within 6 months ( and did) so wasn’t an issue for him. I do think it’s a good conversation to have when considering a home.

I work in a care home. We have 70 residents and about 50 full-time staff. Everyone has to undertake lots of training and updates for which we are paid. We The building lcost about £12 million. There are endless insurance requirements regarding building, professional indemnity, public liability and business insurance. Residents die and income stream stops after 3 days. Those receiving council support pay about half what self funders do hence those with money subsidise them. Add heating, food, water, maintenance. Yes, long term they make money. A live in carer can be as cheap as £500 a week if you employ direct and include board and keep.

I feel I was in a better position than those whose families saved for their future. My parents did not have a good relationship with money. They were the kindest, most loving, most generous people and if they had something that help someone else they would never dream of selling or loaning - they just gave and gave. They sold us their house and set up an annex (all above board with the local authority etc over 30 years ago when they were still young and adventurous and in return we were happy to help out more and more as they got old.

Then DF died and I became DM's carer until her needs were so great she wasn't safe or happy in the annex. Personally, I don't feel bad that her place in the care home was funded by the local authority because I had already provided more than 10 years of care - shopping, dressing, cooking, laundry - for the two of them without claiming any benefits because I didn't know I was entitled to anything.

The £ 30.15 was enough to cover the odd chiropodist appointment and clothing - everything else, including toiletries, pads, the lot - was provided by the home. I don't know what the staff were paid but even if it was double it was not enough. They looked after her well

I am sick of the private care sector complaining about how they're barely covering themselves, and then reading about their profits. One group in Northern Ireland - a tiny country really - which runs 13 homes turned in a £20 million profit last year! And 'Barchester' homes which I think operate all over London have made billionaires out of the Irish business people who own it. They line their shareholders' pockets by paying staff buttons.

It is because it’s so labour intensive. I worked in a care home and staff outnumbered residents because you need to have a 24 hour rota of care. Caretakers, cleaners, cooks, manager, admin, physio it’s all expensive and bills are high as heating costs are £££s

Having carers at home is expensive as employees are entitled to sleep and downtime so need more than 1. I think family carers often burn out, especially when looking after people with dementia as they are essentially on call 24/7 and it’s not possible in the long term.

I really feel for you the personal expenses allowance of £30.15 is disgraceful and leaves family topping up for hairdressers chiropody etc and don't get me started on the third party top up

My mum didn't own a house so she was classed as fully funded by the local council. However on top of what the Council paid she had to pay nearly all of her pension apart from an allowance for "pocket money". So that would have been an extra £300 or so per week.

Care home owners make a shed load of money. The carers still don't get paid as much as they deserve. But you only have to look at the big chains to see how much money they make. I mean it's a business at the end of the day, and they should of course make a profit, but there is undoubtedly a lot of money in it for those at the top. Much less so for the people who work there. We're looking at nearly 100k a year for my mother's care, and it's almost unfortunate that even with her house being sold, she's likely to outlive her money. She has a normal house, not one worth millions.

We sold my parent's home to afford it. Interesting that our local council will pay a maximum of £700 per week for care home placement but as a full fee payer we have to pay over 1K so basically we're subsidising those funded by Adult Social care via the council makes me furious

24 hours a day x 30 days a month x NMW (£12.21 from April) plus add on costs (Pension, NIC etc) is £8791.2 just in wages for 1:1 care at home.
You then have to add on things like insurance and employers costs, covering holidays and sick leave, training courses, dbs checks, safety and safety training, sometimes training in specific medical conditions, general first aid possibly, consumables like aprons, and gloves. Probably lots of other things I've not thought about.

It isn't difficult to see how it adds up.

You could be paid twice as much and I wouldn't begrudge it but you have had training, you have shifts and an end to your day (although if you are anything like the carers my mum had that goes out the window if someone is dying or sick) wheres those of us who just tried to do our best to care for an elderly relative receive just over £ 10.00 per day with zero support, no special equipment and no idea if we are doing things right or making things worse. No holidays, no sick cover, 24/7. It's not lack of love that made me agree to my DM going into care, it was self preservation.