Concern for care home sector sustainability

Care England is calling on Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, to protect the care home sector.

The representative body said it is concerned the sector will become unsustainable if care providers’ costs continue to remain the same while occupancy levels drop.

Care England has also written to the directors of adult social care encouraging them to work in partnership with providers to ensure the sector can recover while continuing to provide quality care to those in need.

Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, said Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have already developed effective strategies:

‘Decreased occupancy rates in the adult social care sector have had an adverse impact on adult social care provider sustainability. Decreased occupancy rates have, in turn, increased care costs per head.

‘This is at a time when care providers have been confronted by an array of Covid-19 related costs.

‘An occupancy strategy would be a very effective way of increasing the sustainability of the adult social care sector in the coming weeks and months.

‘This is of fundamental importance given the role which adult social care has, and continues, to play in England’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic.’

This comes after a report by the Equity Release Council (ERC) revealed 55% of over 60s are rethinking their care plans as a result of Covid-19.

The report found that 19% of those previously open to care homes were now erring away from it, with 38% of those looking to move either to assisted living or to smaller and more manageable properties.

The ERC also said that the pandemic has amplified the underlying issues surrounding care provisions.

The Department for Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.

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