Vulnerable to pay price for cutbacks

Adam Hewitt • Published 7 Jun 2010 11:00 Comments 1 Comment

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ELDERLY and vulnerable people are set to be hit by care cost hikes this summer as public finance cuts start to bite.

Wokingham Borough Council is 'consulting' on removing the cap on fees for home care and respite care, and charging for day care. It says keeping costs low was a 'gesture' it can no longer afford:

- Day care, now free, will cost up to £16.30 a day and will be means-tested

- Home care charges will no longer be capped at £386 a week

- Respite care will no longer be capped at £126 for the first four weeks and £576 thereafter

Anyone with more than £14,500 of savings and investments will pay part of the costs and those with more than the Government limit of £23,250 will pay everything.

Michael Embleton cares for his wife Joyce who has dementia and has day care at Woodley Age Concern in South Lake Crescent. The changes will cost them an extra £4,000 a year, plus another £1,800 for respite care.

Mr Embleton, from Wargrave Road, Twyford, said: "It's a huge increase. I saw a headline the other day about middle-class people being hit by tax rises, but that pales into insignificance when you look at the spiralling cost of care. I don't know how many people are getting clobbered by this, but my concern is if people decide they can't afford it, the care providers could find their services are no longer viable."

Community care general manager Stuart Rowbotham said: "The public finances are in a difficult state nationally and we're not excepted from that. We're among the worst funded local authorities in England and are facing huge demographic growth. That's putting pressure on us.

"The new Government has promised a review of adult social care, but in the interim it's for us to manage as best we can. The changes bring our charges into line with most other councils and they are only for people who are able to contribute."

Former chairman of Woodley Age Concern, now chairman of Age UK Berkshire, Colin Preston, said: "It's a tender issue, not least for people who haven't got a great deal of money."

He said moving from independence to needing care was "a trauma" which could be made worse by money worries, but said he wanted to wait to see the full consultation before giving detailed views on the proposed changes.

Executive member for community care, Cllr Julian McGhee-Sumner, said: "Some difficult decisions will need to be made."

The council's Executive will make its decision after seeing the consultation feedback on July 29, with changes coming in from August 2 if approved.

The price hikes seem inevitable and are already in the council's medium term financial plan, but Mr Rowbotham insisted: "This is all subject to the consultation."

The opposition Lib Dems have branded the changes "mean-spirited and financially short-sighted".

The charging survey and full details are at www.tinyurl.com/32qnga8

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Jason
Unregistered User
Jul 8, 09:02
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Why am I not surprised, this is Wokingham Council we are talking about and it is typical of them to pick on the vulnerable. They always do this to cut cost and give themselves a pat on the back and a large pay increase for doing so.

This also happened last year....anyone remember?

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