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Issued 20th December 2000

'TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE' WARNING AS CASH-STRAPPED NURSING HOMES
STRUGGLE TO STAY OPEN

'Too little, too late' is the message that nursing homes across the UK are giving the Government about additional funds to help social services departments purchase more places for older people.

The Registered Nursing Home Association, representing over 1,000 homes, warns that cash-starved nursing homes have been closing down at an alarming rate. As a result, their total bed capacity has fallen over the past year, limiting the scope in many parts of the country for extra places to be found during the difficult winter period.

This could produce a 'knock on' effect for NHS hospitals, says the Association. Bed blocking by older patients who no longer require acute hospital treatment but are not well enough to go straight home could become more likely in those areas where there has been a marked reduction in the number of nursing homes.

The Government's own figures show that around 15,000 nursing home beds have been lost over the past year, with particular 'hot spots' as far afield as Exeter, Wiltshire, Brighton and Darlington.

Commented RNHA chairman Clifford Davison: "The lesson to be learned from all this is that the Government's so-called 'winter pressures' funding smacks of too little, too late. Nursing homes need to be able to plan financially over a whole year. They cannot survive on the basis of a sudden injection of cash into the system in the run up to Christmas.

He added: "The real losers in all this are, of course, the older people who are being denied the level and type of nursing care they really need. That is at the heart of the tragedy currently unfolding."

Nor does the picture look any better for the coming year. According to the RNHA, the Government's planned ?6 per week increase for nursing home patients from next April is likely to accelerate, rather than slow, the closure of yet more homes.

Said Mr Davison: "Rises in staff costs alone will more than swallow up such a modest increase. This will further aggravate the financial pressures on nursing homes as well as making it even more difficult to maintain high quality standards."

The threat of costs rising more quickly than income is putting hundreds of nursing homes at risk throughout the country, jeopardising the Government's declared strategy of utilising the independent sector to help take pressure of NHS hospitals faced with higher and higher emergency admissions.

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For further information please contact: Frank Ursell, Chief Executive Officer, Registered Nursing Home Association (Tel: 0121-454 2511 or mobile 07785 227000)