Boss steps up his challenge to ministers

A CARE home boss has stepped up calls for the Scottish Government to intervene in the “crisis” in social care.

Ron Taylor, managing director of Parklands Care Homes, has urged Social Care Minister Maree Todd to work with COSLA and the social care sector to end the stalemate surrounding the National Care Home Contract and deliver a fairer deal for care homes.

Despite months of discussion there has been no agreement on a sustainable form of funding for social care.

In a recent blog Ron said the NCHC, which sets out Scotland-wide rates for residential and nursing care, had “failed to keep pace with rising costs and now falls far short of what is needed to deliver high-quality care and support for older people.”

In a statement last month

Scottish Care said current funding levels were “equivalent to less than £5 per hour for complex care and support.”

Ron has returned to the subject in a new video in which he discusses the “frightening” pace of care home closures, and warns more will likely follow unless an agreement is reached on future funding, further fuelling the NHS bed blocking crisis.

He said: “The fees that we get at the moment are just not enough. To get a six per cent increase, which is on the table at the moment, doesn’t even scratch the surface. The National Care Home contract was introduced roughly 15 years ago and really it’s not fit for purpose.

“Over the last 30 years I’ve never ever experienced the state of the industry as it is now. The number of closures and the accelerated number of closures is frightening, particularly in the Highlands with numerous homes closing, and I think it’s undoubtedly going to get worse.

“We know there is a huge amount of bed blocking within Raigmore and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, so surely the social care sector should be part of the solution, not the problem.

“It’s quite clear that COSLA don’t have any funds to take this any further. The Scottish Government need to intervene to help us out of this crisis. We are suffering crippling cost increases, crippling agency costs and we need financial assistance.

“We look after people who are blessed with old age. These people have given their lives to the community and now I feel we’re letting them down.”

Parklands recently revealed that its agency costs alone had soared by more than 800 per cent in two years.

Residents from St Ives House and Alexandra House, two Care South care homes, exchanged words at an inter-home jumbo Scrabble competition. St Ives House, a purpose-built home for residential and dementia care situated near Ringwood, welcomed a handful of residents from sister care home, Alexandra House in Poole, for some light-hearted, friendly competition over a game of Scrabble. Residents started off the visit with fish and chips for lunch in the bistro before trading tiles on the Scrabble board. The two teams played on a standing jumbo-sized board, measuring over 2m tall, which was crafted by the St Ives House activities team. After all the 100 tiles had been used, the visiting residents from Alexandra House emerged as the winning team.