I recently wrote about the National Audit Office taking a step closer to a full-scale investigation of NHS Continuing Health Care funding. Now another Government department, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), is shining a spotlight on the care home market. Is it working for individuals as it should?
This is great news. Here at Just Caring Legal, we are well aware of some of the unfair practices that force families to part with their hard-earned cash just to keep their loved ones safe and cared for, such as being effectively forced to pay top-up fees without being offered an affordable option by the local authority first.
People often don’t want to complain or make a fuss in case their loved one ends up homeless. Sometimes it feels like there is no alternative. So we suspect there will be many people ready to share their experiences with the CMA.
Where do we report our experiences of the care home market?
More details on how people can report their experiences if they feel they or their relatives may have been treated unfairly with regards to their social care can be found on the reporting page here. Views are welcome until 5pm on Monday 16 January 2017.
What sort of things does the CMA want to know about?
The CMA particularly wants to hear from people who think they might have encountered unfair practices. For example:
- Were you given a contract to sign? How clear did you find the terms?
- Did you understand what the weekly care fees would be? What those fees did and did not include? When fees might increase? When additional charges would be made?
- Were you asked to pay a ‘top-up’ fee or contribution? If so, was it explained to you what the payment was for, or what your obligations were?
- Have your care fees gone up, or the quality of the care you receive gone down? If so, were you expecting this and were the reasons made clear?
What else is the CMA looking into?
It will look at whether competition in the care home sector is effective in driving quality and value for money for residents and taxpayers. It will also consider how local authorities and other public bodies purchase and assign care home places, and whether they are encouraging and shaping local supply.
Launching the investigation, Andrea Coscelli, the CMA’s Acting Chief Executive, said: ‘Choosing a care home can be emotional and costly. It’s therefore essential that elderly people and their families have all the information they need to make the best possible choice, and then feel secure in the knowledge they will be fairly treated throughout their time there.’
We couldn’t agree more. So tell the CMA your story today and let’s make this vision a reality.