More Edinburgh care homes could close down amid 'grossly unfair' fees

An industry boss has claimed the private and third sectors are being short-changed by councils.

More Edinburgh care homes could be at risk of closing down due to 'grossly unfair' fees, an industry boss has claimed.

Robert Kilgour, chairman of Renaissance Care which runs four homes in the Capital, warns private and third-sector providers are being short-changed by the city's Health and Social Care Partnership, which runs services on behalf of the council.

The Integration Joint Board (IJB) has proposed an average fee increase of 15.66 per cent for its own homes in the coming year. Meanwhile, it has only offered to pay other providers 6.76 per cent for nursing care and 8.3 per cent for residential care.

A care boss has warned more homes could close in Edinburgh.

Local authorities maintain that private and public care services cannot be directly compared, but Mr Kilgour claims they are exploiting private partners to make up for their own wastefulness. “We recently agreed the fee settlement for the next year with Scottish local authorities when we had a gun put to our head", he said.

"I know from speaking to numerous other operators that they felt that they were simply unable to fight for six months for a better deal as many of them would have gone under due to cost pressures.

“The new fees were offered to us as a ‘fait accompli’ and do not come even close to funding care homes across Scotland that have been faced with an enormous increase in operating costs from dealing with the pandemic, the rising energy charges and the cost of living crisis.

“Edinburgh City Council’s approach is being replicated by local authorities all across the country. It is imperative that local authorities do not use care home fee underpayment as a cash cow to fix their own fiscal issues.

"Rather, what we need is local authorities to value the work of care providers and, just as importantly, value our residents by investing properly in high-quality care.

“How can it be fair that there is such a yawning funding gap between the two sectors? We must have a level playing field on fee levels.”

It comes as two council-run homes are set to shut amid £60million worth of cuts to care services in the Capital. Clovenstone and Ford Road care homes will close while cash for addiction services, exercise and memory classes for the elderly and overnight care will be slashed.

Speaking to the Evening News, Mr Kilgour added: "The independent and voluntary sector gets scraps from the council's table and that's going to lead to more homes closing, more bed-blocking and longer NHS waiting lists. It's not rocket science.

"It's inefficiency, blatant misuse of public funds, hypocrisy and blatant double standards that councils are happy to spend double the cost for residents in their own homes than they're prepared to pay us."

He continued: “The documents revealed today show there is an unbelievable degree of double standards which needs to be addressed. This is a clear attempt from local authorities to claw back money at the expense of our amazing and hard-working staff, who are caring round the clock for all our vulnerable elderly – they deserve better.

“It is a grossly unfair settlement, when all care sector operators want is to be treated fairly and for our critical work to be valued. Sadly, I fear that many more care homes throughout Scotland will likely close over the next year as a result of this unfair and uneven treatment.”

Edinburgh's Health and Social Care Partnership was approached for comment.