Postcode lottery for social care must stop, says care homes chief

Mary Wimbury, said health boards and local authorities did not pay high enough fees so that care providers could give better pay to care home and domiciliary care workers.

She spoke out after the Welsh Government indicated that hospital patients could be discharged without the usual care packages being put in place.

Hospitals say they are struggling to admit patients because many of those already there were unable to be discharged because there was nowhere for them to go.

Ms Wimbury said a postcode lottery of fees meant that health boards and local councils were paying vastly different rates for providing the same care packages and called for a national fee structure in Wales.

“We have to be more joined up in terms of paying appropriate rates to enable providers to pay staff sufficiently to retain and recruit them, and provide the support that people need," she said.

“It’s a lot cheaper to care for people in their own homes and in care homes than it is in hospitals, so we can free up money by investing properly in social care as well as keeping people out of hospital in the first place and getting them out more quickly when they’re there.

“It’s absolutely vital for a patient who needs support after leaving hospital to have a care package when they are discharged.

“In many cases, vulnerable people can’t support themselves in doing the everyday activities of living – and we can’t be in a position where we are effectively leaving them to fend for themselves."

Ms Wimbury added: “We’ve got to provide that care but we’ve also got to provide that support to care workers who are able to provide that care.

“The patients being discharged may need help with things like eating, taking medication, going to the toilet and getting washed and dressed. You need the training and skills to deliver that – and you need the compassion and the right values as well.

“Without that care, it is going to put a lot of pressure on families and friends in terms of providing that care."

She said too many staff were leaving social care.

“If you’re providing care for somebody who’s fallen or even in some cases had a stroke and are waiting hours and hours for an ambulance, that just puts more and more pressure on staff and makes you more likely to feel you can’t continue in the job."