Care home owners refusing to sign new contracts

Posted by The Journal on Mar 1, 09 08:33 AM in News

A row over care fees in Northumberland is set to continue - with nearly 60% of homes still refusing to sign a new contract.

As previously reported by The Journal, Northumberland Care Trust has been involved in an 18-month dispute with Care North East, which represents private care homes for elderly and disabled people in the county.

The homes say the payments offered to them by the trust to provide care is not enough to cover their costs and they are losing money.

Many have refused to sign contracts as a result of which the trust is refusing to place people with them. This has left some people unable to get into homes of their choice.

Many of the premises involved are mounting a High Court challenge against the trust.

But at a meeting yesterday, trust bosses said more and more homes are signing contracts all the time.

Speaking at Blyth's Isabella Centre yesterday, Daljit Lally, executive director of adult care, said: "We have had an ongoing dispute across Northumberland but I am pleased to report that we are able to make placements across the county with a good range of corporate and small local providers on the terms and conditions that the care trust set out last year.

"Just over 40% of homes are signed up with two further homes coming on in the last two weeks.

"There is a continuous improvement on the position on an ongoing basis."

Ms Lally said "difficult economic times" were at the hub of the dispute.

She told the meeting Northumberland was in the top 20 out of 150 trusts nationwide in terms of the payments it makes to homes.

The director said Northumberland was "very lucky" to be in this situation and said she was "very pleased" with the fees the trust pays.

The Journal reported earlier this month on the case of Jane Hollis, 78, of Ashington, who was stuck in hospital for weeks after being denied a place at a home in the town, because it had not signed a care trust contract.

Ms Lally yesterday said there had been a small number of people effected by the row, which she claimed would be the case with any dispute.

She added the trust has generally been able to work with individuals to find them placements.

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