One hundred care home operators are reported as going out of business last year, and over 400 in the past five years (Collapse of care home firms ‘could force patients into hospitals’, 12 March). Residential care has for far too long been the unsuccessful model for services intended for the public good being run instead by the private sector.
Surely it is wrong for people, often in their final years, to live under the constant threat of homelessness, because care home owners are unable to make a profit. It is bad enough, at the best of times, that this model is based on a proportion of the fees paid to the homes (either by the state or by residents themselves) being extracted as profit for their owners. But in times of prolonged austerity (as now), when the fine balance of “income in/profit out” is threatened, homes are closed down and chaos ensues – with residents moved on without consent to other “suitable” accommodation.
This often means NHS hospitals, proving a double burden on the state (with both the additional unplanned costs to the NHS of their new patients, often inappropriately placed, and the knock-on effects of delays to the treatment of those who otherwise would be treated). It’s the same old tale of two models – the private sector providing public services, under contract to the state, run only so long as it makes profit, under no obligation to residents or staff. In contrast, the public sector operates only for the public good.
Gillian Dalley
London
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