Due to cuts from local authorities in their contributions for residents and costs, particularly staff overheads, on the rise, care homes are under immense pressure and a record number of businesses failed last year as a result. New government figures show that 75 care home businesses were declared insolvent in 2016, up from 74 in the previous year.
These figures cover nursing homes, homes for the elderly, residential care activities for learning disabilities, mental health, and substance abuse. The consultancy firm, FRP Advisory, said that care homes were the only industry in the UK to have suffered from rising insolvencies over the last seven years.
Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: –
“My view is that if you ask me who is to blame, it is the government. The government should be delivering a very clear vision for what social care is, they should be giving clear expectations to citizens about what they should expect from the system and what they should expect to pay for. None of that is happening.”
Later on this month the competition watchdog, The Competition and Markets Authority, will be studying the care home sector and delivering a report. They will study how the market works and whether there are grounds for consumer enforcement action. The regulator has the power to make recommendations to the government and the industry and necessary changes.
