National Scandal

Ceidiog Communication for Care Forum Wales

£1.8 million care homes bill is “national scandal”

With pic of Mario Kreft

Angry care home owners in Pembrokeshire say they’re owed over £1.8
million in unpaid fees because of a legal battle that’s been described
as a “national scandal”.

After more than three years of wrangling, the Supreme Court has
reached a decision on a dispute between Welsh health boards, councils
and providers.

The nub of the case was who should pay a £20 a week fee for nursing
care provided by care homes – the bill nationally is £30 million.

The health boards had originally come up with the figure but refused
to pay it themselves.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favour of the local
authorities and said that the health boards had misinterpreted the
legal position.

Care Forum Wales said it was a ridiculous that the health boards
could not have reached an agreement without going to court in the
first place.

They believe the court costs are upwards of £1 million, money they
say would have  been better spent on providing frontline nursing care
for vulnerable and frail care home residents.

Care Forum Wales are calling for the lost fees to be backdated so the
care homes receive what they should have been paid years ago.

Chairman Mario Kreft MBE said: “We are delighted with the ruling of
the Supreme Court which upheld what we always firmly believed was the
case and what was said in the original Judicial Review secured by a
group of providers.

“We appreciate the support of the local authorities in fighting this
case because it was the right thing to do.

“Today’s decision has finally given us clarity over who should pay
the fees and has hopefully brought this sorry saga to an end.

“From the outset, local authorities supported the notion that the
amount calculated by health boards should be paid to providers.

“In fairness to the local authorities, it was the health boards who
did not want to engage in discussions to sort this out much earlier.

“It is a national scandal that we have had to endure this long and
completely unnecessary legal dispute.

“Everybody is in total agreement that this money should be paid to
care homes and it is after all taxpayers’ money from the public purse.

“It really doesn’t matter one jot to Mrs Jones who needs publically
funded nursing care who is actually going to pay for that care. All
that counts to her is that she receives the care that she needs.

“The upshot is that privately-run care homes have been subsidising
health boards at a time when they were already suffering from chronic
underfunding. It flies in the face of fairness and natural justice.

“Effectively this Supreme Court judgement applies to all of the
people, all 11,000 plus people in registered nursing beds in Wales
today.

“It’s very interesting that when you look at the most recent review
findings in the interim report published only a few weeks ago, the
body set up by the Health Minister Vaughan Gethingto look at health
and social care  described the sector as unstable.

“Rather than have lengthy and expensive legal proceedings, it would
have been far better if all the interested parties could have sat
around a table with the providers looking at the real costs, and
agreeing what a service should look like, what a service should cost.

“The other side of this is it’s put a massive dampener on the
ability of providers to recruit staff, which is another problem
highlighted by the review.

“The interim report identified there were huge recruitment and
retention problems because we have a dysfunctional system.

“There is no better example of that dysfunction than 22 local
authorities, the health boards and the providers fighting it out in
the courts.

“We don’t believe it ever should have got there. We believe it
should have been sorted out before it ever went anywhere near a
lawyer.

“The figures tell a stark story. While this has been going on care
homes have been denied fees amounting to £1,000 per resident every
year.

“It is totally scandalous and they should be reimbursed because
it’s only fair and proper that they are.

“When the dust settles on this case Wales will still be left with a
population of older people that is amongst the highest in the Western
World.

“Let’s take heed of the health minister’s panel of experts because
this sorry tale shows there is much work to be done to meet the needs
of vulnerable people.

“The people of Wales now expect us to work together so we can have a
sustainable system that protects vulnerable people.”