Private UK care homes’ profit margins soared in pandemic, research finds – Amid staffing crisis and warnings that system is ‘deeply flawed’ companies caring for elderly and disabled enjoyed financial success

6 comments

  1. Yeah because the old people are being fleeced left right and center by the extortionate rates.

    I keep sounding like a broken record, but I wonder how a good 50% of the population are gonna be shown to benefit next to nothing from any inheritance they tought they might be due.

    I wonder if they even realise this little fact yet. Also depriving assets is illegal, but I wonder how many people are gonna do just that to make a point (Depriving Assets is *illegal* by the way, for anyone who might be considering it!)

  3. This was between 2019 and 2020: staffing was easier then. Recently I was at a shareholder call of one of the biggest care home providers in the UK and the business is facing a battering, making no profit at all this year

  4. From the article it seems like it’s the big chains rather than the smaller independents who made the money. A record number of smaller care homes were closing over 2017 onwards because of rising costs and legislative changes- this isn’t a new crisis- the Dept of Health has been tracking this for a while as a huge influx of elderly individuals needing extensive care with a shrinking number of homes in the U.K. is a huge risk.

    The problem is that those who cannot afford their care have it funded by their local authority at very much reduced rates. Those who pay privately out of pocket then end up being charged a rate which is several £1000s more expensive, in effect cross subsidising the local authority. Those who need care don’t want to sell their houses/self-fund in another way and think it should be free for all. The young working age population who can’t afford their own homes and are already struggling to make ends meet can’t see why they should have to meet the cost of care for well-off individuals when they can barely afford to live themselves.

    Finding care workers is also incredibly difficult. It’s a physically and emotionally demanding job that’s very poorly paid. Nursing homes actually track new supermarkets (particularly an ALDI or LIDL) opening up in their local area as a risk factor because it almost always leads to a drop in staffing as carers can earn more and with less effort as a cashier at those supermarkets. I would love to see how much of the money made in these big chain care homes actually goes towards paying care staff. Probably nowhere near enough.

  6. Here’s a fun one for you.
    My parents are carers for my elderly grandmother. Because they are basically tied down caring for her, it’s really difficult for them to be able to arrange to go away on holiday.

    So they’ve basically reached the end of their tether, and have decided to ship ol’ grandma off to a respite home for 2 weeks so we can all meet up on a much needed holiday.

    Cost of a 2 week stay in said respite home?

    FOUR GRAND. FOUR FUCKING GRAND.

    Out of interest I checked out some nice 5 star Central London hotels for a price comparison.

    Around 2800 ish for the fortnight.

    I bet this care home doesn’t even have a pool and a minibar ffs.

Leave a Reply