Care England, the largest and most diverse representative body
for independent providers of adult social care in England, has
welcomed the Care Provider Alliance publication ‘Provider Market
Sustainability - Planning Support to Councils’ as an opportunity
for Local Authorities to recognise the pressures facing
independent providers now and in the future.
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care
England, says:
“This report evidences the significant pressures care
providers are currently operating under. It is now incumbent upon
Local Authorities to recognise these pressures in their Market
Sustainability Plans due to be submitted to the Department of
Health and Social Care on 14 October, to reflect the current and
future reality of the sector to sustain the workforce and
financial viability, whilst also to address the impact of rising
energy and agency costs, as well as rising inflation.”
Provider Market Sustainability -
Planning Support to Councils reflects a number of care
providers’ thoughts on the Fair Cost of Care process and lays out
their key concerns.
The Fair Cost of Care exercise is a process of engagement between
local authorities, commissioners, and providers, data collection,
and analysis by means of which local authorities and care
providers can arrive at a shared understanding of the local cost
of providing care. The cost of care exercise is aimed at helping
local authorities identify the lower quartile, median, and upper
quartile costs in the local area for a series of care
categories.
The Care Provider Alliance (CPA) was tasked by provider members
to produce this document for councils to consider ahead of
finalising their Market Sustainability Plans.
Alongside Cost of Care exercises, local authorities are required
to develop and submit a provisional Market Sustainability Plan,
which will be followed by a final Market Sustainability Plan when
local government budgets for 2023 to 2024 have been
confirmed.
The key concerns for providers detailed within the CPA
publication were workforce, energy, inflation, and Return of
Operations/Capital:
- Vacancies are up 52% in the last 12 months against a 48-year
low in unemployment
- 60% of providers will need to uplift carer pay in addition to
their annual pay uplift, due to the cost-of-living crisis
- 88% of providers struggle to secure agency staff
- 50% of agency staff used to cover long-term vacancies
- 26% cover short-term vacancies and is additional to the
staff costs they are covering
- Recruitment costs are up 127% in the last 2 years
- Overseas recruitment costs £3-5k per annum and in some
locations, accommodation is unable to be sought
- Even after the introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme
and the introduction of a cap, energy prices for providers are
3-4 times what it was 12 months ago
- Food inflation is over 15% of total costs currently for care
home providers
- Insurance premiums can be 400% higher than pre-pandemic
levels
- Councils do not apply sufficient Return on Operations or
Capital levels to sustain providers who need to maintain a
profit/ surplus to invest in their organisations and to stay in
business
Martin Green continues:
“The Fair Cost of Care exercise was engaged with by around
32% of care homes, equating to 41% of care homes places in
England. With such a significant representation of data, Local
Authorities now have the evidence they require to secure the
future sustainability of the sector. There is no room for further
excuses. The Market Sustainability Plans must focus on the
solutions required to address local issues around workforce pay
and benefits, as well as address the provision of funding for
providers.”
