The future of care homes

After a desperately difficult year, Britain’s care homes are facing an uncertain future.

While more homes are needed over the next ten years to meet the demand from an increasingly ageing population, hundreds are closing due to the pandemic.

The closures affect all parts of the UK, and different types of homes, the majority of which are privately owned.

The number of council owned homes has dropped steadily due to the lack of funding. And one of the largest private home groups is closing over fifty while investing in some new ones.

The country is facing a national crisis, says property firm Knight Frank, reporting that 6,500 homes with 140,000 beds risk closure yet the demand for places will increase.

The anomaly is that the number of spaces is soaring - in some South Wales homes up to 20 percent.

The GMB union say that, with tens of thousands of homes deaths, some families are reluctant to send elderly relatives to a home. It blames the government  for its ‘appalling lack of strategy’.

Some private home groups, realising the need and the potential, are investing heavily, improving homes and facilities and even building new ones.

Caring nicely: Sunrise of Cardiff

Sunrise/Gracewell is one. My home, Sunrise of Cardiff, is modern, well-equipped and staffed, and is being totally refurbished over eighteen months, expanding its services.

Some private homes see the need to specialise, with ‘theme’ homes featuring nautical, artistic and other subjects.

There is an ominous silence from the government on their plans for care homes and social services in general

They say they have provided billions in extra funding during the pandemic, including many millions for care homes.

To avoid the threatened crisis a concerted approach is needed, with more responsibility, and funding, for local government whose health services are proving valuable in combating coronavirus.