The Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Social Care and Older People - Janet Finch-Saunders MS - has used this week’s plenary session to urge the Welsh Government to “properly support every care home”.
Her challenge came in light of her finding that an email was issued by the Welsh Government to all local authorities on May 12 advising in relation to the £40 million allocated to adult social care that “only costs related to the delivery of local authority commissioned adult social care are eligible”.
What this means in reality is that Local Authorities cannot award extra funding to care homes on the basis of increased costs arising from residents who pay their own fees, or those being paid for by a health board.
Commenting on the situation, the Shadow Minister said:
“Care homes are one of our front lines in the national effort to protect residents from COVID-19.
“The seriousness of the situation is clear as there was a 98-percent increase in deaths at adult care homes since March 1 this year compared to the same period in 2019.
“I have said previously that the Welsh Government should be doing more to support our care homes, such as by making testing available to all residents. However, it seems that even accessing financial support is not straight forward.
“When the Welsh Government stated that £40 million would be available to adult social care providers, a reasonable person would have thought that finance would have been accessible to all struggling care homes.
“It turns out that care homes can only claim costs related to the delivery of local authority commissioned adult social care, meaning that they have to look elsewhere for assistance with the increased cost of caring for privately funded individuals and those paid for by the health boards.
“Whilst Welsh Government officials are now in discussion with health boards about providing additional funding, the whole situation is unnecessary.
“It shows that there is a long way to go to properly integrate health and social care, and remove unnecessary bureaucracy.
“Be the money going to a care home coming via the local authority or health board, at the end of the day, it originates from the same location – tax payers.
“We need to properly support every care home quickly, so there should be a single pot from which finance can be accessed”.
ENDS
Document:
- Email from the Welsh Government
Notes:
