Care homes across England will struggle to meet increases in the costs of care for older people, putting the number of beds at risk, figures published today reveal.

Market experts Laing and Buisson said fee rates had risen by 0.5% in England, compared with a rise in costs of 2.1% for homes, as local authorities pass budget squeezes onto providers. Councils fund about 170,000 care places in the independent sector across England.

Des Kelly, executive director of the National Care Forum, said: “There’s a danger of closing homes and putting residents at risk.”

Both Kelly and Sheila Scott, chief executive of the National Care Association, agreed the low fee rises could cause capacity issues and leave people struggling to find residential placements. Scott said: “I think that this could cause capacity issues in some parts of the country, especially where people may not have much personal money.”

East Anglia and the northern Home Counties, such as Oxfordshire, are being hit worst with average increases of 0% in fees, the survey of 186 of the 208 UK councils with social services responsibilities showed. Scotland and Northern Ireland fared better, however, with average increases of 2.1% and 2%, while rates rose by 1.5% for Welsh providers.

Scott said providers would increasingly look to fill beds with fee paying individuals to make up the gap in local government rates.

William Laing, chief executive of Laing and Buisson, warned the rises could prove problematic for even the most prudent companies if they were continued for the next three years. He added: “Very tough times are ahead for highly indebted companies, especially those exposed to public funding in areas of overcapacity.”

The Alzheimer’s Society said the figures raised concerns about the quality of care.

Acting chief executive Ruth Sutherland said: ‘We understand cuts are inevitable, but funding squeezes should not mean cutting corners. There are alternatives to slashing costs on care – it is possible to ensure high quality of life for residents, providing value for money and without incurring extra cost.”

Des Kelly

Des Kelly is Executive Director of the National Care Forum. He was appointed to this new post when the organisation was formed in 2003. The National Care Forum (NCF) is a membership based organisation established to promote quality care outcomes for people receiving care and support services through the not-for-profit sector. The NCF has become the leading voice for not-for-profit care providers in the UK and now represents in excess of 50% of the sector. Des represents NCF with the main sector bodies such as the Department of Health, Commission for Social Care Inspection and the General Social Care Council.

Des was previously Partnerships Director with BUPA Care Homes from 1998 to 2003, where he carried operational management responsibility for a division with 27 care homes (over 1000 places), including specialist provision, and 9 day centres operated in partnership with local authorities and other organisations. He also had a specific remit for leading on management development and other training as well as national local authority links. Des has held the posts of HR Director with Care First Plc (which was at the time the largest Nursing Home group in the UK with a staff of 14,500) and Court Cavendish Plc. From 1988 to 1995 he worked for the Social Care Association, a professional association, as Deputy General Secretary (which included being Co-Director for the Social Care Practice Centre at the University of Warwick managing training programmes, practice development and action research). During this time he served on a number of national groups promoting quality social care services as well as several inquiries, and was a regular conference speaker.

Des has a background of working in the residential care sector with both older people and other adults and has written extensively for the professional press with over 100 articles published. He is the Editor of the journal Social Caring, News Editor of the monthly magazine Care Management Matters and sits on the Editorial Board of several journals in the care sector. He is the author of several books on social care and management (one of which has been translated into Mandarin for use in Taiwan!). His qualifications include B.Sc.(Hons) in Behavioural Science, Certificate of Qualification in Social Work and M.A. in Applied Social Studies.

Des was appointed Associate Fellow at the University of Warwick School of Health and Social Studies in 2003. He is a member of the Institute of Directors and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He joined the European Committee of IAHSA in June 2005. He is a governor of the Centre for Policy on Ageing and also chairs the Steering Group of the Help the Aged ‘My Home Life’ programme. Des was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2007 for services to social care. He holds the honorary position of President of the Social Care Association 2007-08.

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