Cost of care surges to nearly £100,000 a year
Families have been hit with care fee rises of £8,000 as providers pass on soaring energy and staff costs.
Average residential care fees have leapt to £49,475 per year, up from £41,508 in 2021-22, according to healthcare data provider LaingBuisson – a jump of 19pc.
Fees are even higher for those who pay for their own care.
While councils paid on average £828 per week in 2023-24, self-funders paid £1,136. This rose to £1,146 and £1,409 respectively for nursing care.
This is because the lack of government funding for social care means private payers effectively subsidise fees paid by the council.
You must pay for your own care, without help from the local council, if you own your property or have savings worth more than £23,250.
At the upper end of the market, self-funding families are forced to pay £1,750 per week for nursing care and £1,500 for residential care, the report said, meaning some are paying close to £100,000 a year.
Care home fees vary significantly across the country, with those in the North East paying the lowest average residential care fee at £799 per week compared to £1,152 per week in the South East, the most expensive area.
William Laing, the author of the report, said: “Using their larger purchasing power, local authorities can drive prices down in negotiation, but this may have resulted in providers being forced to charge more elsewhere.
“With social care reform a topic that neither the Conservatives nor the Labour Party seemingly want to tackle ahead of a general election, it appears likely that more and more people will be forced into meeting the cost of care from their savings.”
Care providers have upped their fees in order to cope with soaring energy costs and rising staff pay, following successive uplifts to the National Minimum Wage.
Mike Padgham, chairman of the Independent Care Group, said: “The increase to staffing cost has been one of the biggest for care home providers.
“Social care staff have always been underpaid, so I can see more steep rises in future. The staff deserve it. But for the consumer it means fees are going to have to rise.”
There is “no light at the end of the tunnel” in social care, he added, as talk of reforming how it is funded has died down since Boris Johnson left office.
The former prime minister had promised to “fix social care once and for all” but the social care funding reforms he announced in September 2021 appear to have been abandoned by the Conservative party.
Mr Padgham said: “If we don’t reform social care, smaller providers could be forced to close. This could mean fewer beds at a time when most of us are living to 80 or 100.”
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