‘Care Homes Fleece Pensioners Who Pay Their Own Way’ Says Report

Most pensioners forced to sell their houses to cover care home bills are charged more than fellow residents paid for by the council, according to a damning Whitehall report.

Some residents pay up to £30,000 a year without being told what they are getting for their money.

The inquiry by the Commission for Social Care Inspection provides the strongest evidence yet that the property-owning middle classes are systematically fleeced when they go into a care home.

Six homes in ten charge higher fees to residents paying their own way, the watchdog found. In many cases they are paying £85 a week more than those whose fees are covered by the welfare state.

In total, private residents face bills of up to £1,500 a week. And they get no help from social workers or any other guidance from the state once it is established they will be ‘self-funders’.

In some, residents are charged extra for food or for laundry without being told before they go in, the report found. In others, they can be forced to share a room because they are not given a contract that stipulates they are entitled to a single room.

It is thought that homes tend to charge more to private residents because councils use their monopoly power to drive down the costs they pay. The effect is that private residents subsidise the others.

Yesterday’s report follows years of concern over the means test system that makes those who have worked and saved all their lives give up everything when they go into a home – while someone who has never worked or saved gets the same help free.

The Daily Mail’s Dignity for the Elderly campaign has highlighted the injustices and the resentment caused.

Last week Gordon Brown hinted that a Government inquiry next year will examine ways of easing the burden on elderly people with savings.

At the moment, anyone with savings or property worth more than £20,000 must pay their own care home bills. More than 40,000 people a year have to sell their homes to meet the costs.

The report, called A Fair Contract with Older People?, said: “We found evidence of differential charging in 58 per cent of homes. Differential charging appears to be unrelated to quality of care, even if some people paying for their own care and who pay a higher rate might get a slightly bigger room or a nicer view.

“This is unusual, since in most markets the expectation would be that the consumer who pays more gets a better quality in return.”

The report found that half of those consulted in a survey of 1,700 individuals and family members had had no assessment of their needs by social workers once it was established that they would be ‘self-funders’.

Four out of ten were not given full information on what their fees covered, or whether the NHS could help towards their costs.

Homes were reluctant to explain charges for extras such as chiropody or hairdressing, the report said. Some did not explain charges for laundry, toiletries or journeys to hospital.

The report also condemned the ‘top-up’ system by which homes charge extra to council-funded residents – supposedly for better facilities than the council fee would cover. In some places, three out of four homes charge top-ups, it found.

Martin Green, of the English Community Care Association, said: “It is clear that self-funders are being denied support and that many councils are not paying the true costs of care for those they are obliged to fund.”

The report said the elderly and their families should ask for a full assessment of needs by social workers and whether the NHS should be paying a contribution.

It also advised establishing if there were any extra charges for laundry, food and drink.