Care Forum Wales has found that you can buy a small box of oxo or a cuppa soup for the same amount of money that Local Health Boards in Wales (on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government) have decided to contribute to nursing care.
The contribution – which amounts to 39 pence per day or £2.73 per week – has been described as ‘an affront’ and ‘blatant ageism’ by Care Forum Wales and is just the latest in a number of funding shortfalls being faced by the Welsh care sector.
Chief executive of Care Forum Wales, Mario Kreft, said: “Someone, somewhere has to realise that providers in Wales need to be paid a ‘fair price for quality care’ and one that reflects the true costs. After our annual trawl around local authorities, once again we have found that not one local authority or local health board is following the Section 7 statutory guidance used to such stunning affect in the recent Vale of Glamorgan arbitration.
In response to the derisory fee increase, Care Forum Wales will embark on a national campaign to win hearts and minds – as well as funding for the sector.
The team has written to all nursing homes in Wales to ask them to support the campaign , which will kick off with the delivery of parcels of oxo cubes and cuppa soup to all local health boards to make the point. CFW has also brought in legal experts to decide whether LHBs are working within the law while continually ignoring statutory guidance.
Mario added: “Despite the toolkit, and despite local authority consultant reports arguing for higher fees and despite a very successful case of arbitration no one has seen fit to listen.
“The knock on effect as we all know could be calamitous. Hospitals full to the brim with patients have nowhere to go because of a care service which is underfunded and overly bureaucratic.
“Wales is sleep walking headlong into losing many of its specialist providers in communities that simply cannot afford the loss. It’s time for a change of policy. All I can hope, is that with the Commissioner for Older People in Wales now in post we can root out such blatant institutional ageism and remove it once and for all.”
To pledge support for the campaign please contact Jo Dunston on 01978 755400 or email enquiries@careforumwales.org
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