Campaigners are calling upon the East Riding of Yorkshire Council to intervene directly in the takeover of failing private care homes in the area.
The call comes following the closure or planned closure of three Care homes in the area.
Westwood home in Beverley closed before Christmas and in recent days operators of Londesborough Court in Market Weighton and Molescroft Court, also in Beverley have announced plans to close.
With campaigners saying more closures are thought to be pending they want to see the local authority step in and take action.
Commenting on the issue surrounding care homes in the area George McManus from Beverley Labour Party’s said;
“There is a crisis in NHS and Social Care which requires immediate action.”
“East Riding of Yorkshire Council has statutory responsibility for the provision of social care. We’re losing hundreds of beds in the private sector.”
“East Riding of Yorkshire Council should therefore take failing homes into council control to guarantee provision.”
“We’re also calling on the Clinical Commissioning Group, who also have social care responsibilities to extend the deadline for their consultation which ends next week.”
“These are desperate times. We must protect our most vulnerable at this critical juncture.”
Experts from the Care Industry are warning the UK is facing a crisis when it comes to caring the for the venerable in the country saying it will ‘dwarf’ the problems seen in the steel industries.
Martin Green, chief executive of Care England says;
“We are looking at Redcar happening twice a month if care homes go down.”
“These people can only be looked after in care homes and hospitals. If Jeremy Hunt thinks he has a problem with bed blocking now, it is nothing on what it is going to be like if these care homes start to close. Hospitals won’t be able to do elective care because they will be full of old people.”
There are staggering variations in fees across the country, ranging from £350 a week to as high as £750, according to consumer watchdog Which?
The Local Government Association itself estimates that there will be a £2.9bn annual funding gap in social care by the end of the decade.
