NEWS RELEASE FROM THE
REGISTERED NURSING HOME ASSOCIATION IN WALES
Issued 4th September 2002
NURSING HOMES WELCOME MINISTER’S
‘FLEXIBLE APPROACH’ TO CARE STANDARDS -
BUT WARN OF CONTINUING FINANCIAL AND STAFFING PROBLEMS
The Registered Nursing Home Association (RNHA) in Wales today welcomed an announcement by the Minister for Health and Social Services, Jane Hutt, that a ‘sensible and flexible’ approach would be adopted in applying new national care standards.
In particular, Welsh nursing home owners were pleased to hear the Minister commit herself to ensuring that ‘good homes’ would not be placed in danger of closure by the way in which the standards are applied.
The chairman of the RNHA in Wales, Anthony Ramsey-Williams, commented: “This is a positive move by the Minister, who clearly recognises that the rigid application of standards on, for example, room sizes and door widths would have created even more havoc among nursing homes already struggling to keep going. But whilst welcoming her statement, we believe many homes will continue to go out of business because the fees they are receiving for publicly funded patients still fall far short of meeting the actual costs they are incurring.”
He added: “A recent independent analysis by the widely respected Laing and Buisson organisation recommended that average weekly fees for nursing home care should be £459 per week. That contrasts enormously with the £370 or so per week that is generally paid by local authorities throughout Wales.”
The RNHA in Wales has also expressed mounting concern about the staffing situation in nursing homes. Recruitment in the current climate is said to be very difficult, with the care standards regulations making the problem even worse for nursing home managers because of the very specific staffing levels laid down.
Said Mr Ramsey Williams: “Low fees and staff shortages are bringing the nursing home sector to its knees. We are caught in a vicious circle. We need the help of both the National Assembly and local authorities to get out of it.”
The RNHA stresses that nursing homes in Wales will be looking to local authorities in the coming months to find practical ways of bringing stability to the care sector.
Said Mr Ramsey-Williams: “It is the local authorities which pay fees for publicly funded nursing home patients. We need to engage with them in a constructive dialogue about how, by working together, we can ensure that older people in Wales have access to good quality, well-staffed nursing homes which can afford to stay in business for the long-term.”
END
For further information and comment, please contact:
Anthony Ramsey-Williams, RNHA chairman in Wales, based at Campion Gardens Retirement Village in Swansea (Tel: 01792 235134)
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