Rural care for elderly in crisis due to spending cuts and fuel prices

Elderly people in rural areas are at risk because the care system to look after them in their own homes is “at breaking point”.

The boss of one of the West’s leading care providers has demanded Government action because while everything from wages to the cost of petrol for carers continues to rise, the amount of money received from the authorities to pay for care has remained static for three years.

According to Liz Kirkham, that means not only are care providers facing a crisis but people are put off getting jobs as carers while the elderly can’t afford the increased costs of paying extra for the care they need.

Mrs Kirkham’s comments come after problems with the delivery of care saw one provider in Wiltshire stripped of its contract because it was failing to provide enough staff and time to meet council demands.

Mrs Kirkham is the managing director of Candlelight Homecare Services, which provides care in people’s homes across Wiltshire, Bath, North East Somerset, Somerset, Dorset and Poole. The firm provides mainly care for the elderly, but also everything from respite care for adults with autism to homes and garden maintenance for the elderly or housebound.

But it is the care for the elderly paid for by local authorities that is facing breaking point, as Mrs Kirkham spelled out in a letter to South Gloucestershire MP and social services expert Steve Webb.

She has demanded action from the Government to stop a “double whammy” of a rise in petrol costs combined with a lifting of the minimum wage hitting care services, particularly in rural areas. She said the higher costs are not being met by an increase in the payments councils are giving to the care firms.

“Elderly people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect in their retirement,” she said. “I was dismayed to read that not only will the price of fuel increase by 3.02p in August but the National Minimum Wage will rise to £6.19 from October.

“Recent poor press has meant the care industry has taken a battering and recruitment is becoming increasingly difficult as a result. Who would want to join an industry that is now seen as delivering such a poor service?

“Public spending cuts have meant that in the main, home care companies have not had an increase in their rates from some of their local authorities for three years running,” she added. Candlelight is based in Glastonbury and has recently won the contract to provide local authority care in many parts of Dorset.

“As a provider of home care in rural areas the cost of fuel is particularly close to our hearts and with no inflationary uplift this is causing a strain on the system,” she added.

Mr Webb said he would raise the issues with the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and promised he was aware of the challenges of trying to ensure high quality care for our elderly.”