Care home providers - Find a freedom of information request

Due to rising costs pressures widely talked about including energy and agency/temporary staffing for care homes, Care England is supporting its members to sustain their organisations this winter. Providers must plan financially and decide whether to mothball empty rooms or take in new public or self-funded residents this winter. To help plan or reorganise their businesses, certain information is essential to support the local authority and NHS with commissioning this winter.



Care England recognises that some of this information would be available via the recent Fair Cost of Care exercise as submitted to the DHSC on 14 October 2022. Care England does not believe the information requested is subject to Section 22 of the Freedom of Information Act, as the data submitted to the DHSC on the 14th October 2022 is subject to review and change and may not be the data published later. The information requested is needed now to support the local authority and NHS immediately.



Care England will also use some of this information to help argue for longer-term funding for Adult Social Care for local authorities to receive the funding needed to sustain local care provision. It is critical for care home providers to have access to the information requested to consider their current position and the sustainable balance of public to privately funded residents locally, prior to accepting new referrals this winter, we, therefore, ask for the earliest possible response to the following questions:



1. Please explain the process and provide key dates for engaging with care home providers between now and March 2023 to discuss, review and understand the findings of the Fair Cost of Care exercise and to take providers through the response submitted to the DHSC on the 14th October 2022.



2. Care England is happy to support all local authorities to engage with providers and to meet the openness and transparency obligations of both parties as stated in the Market Sustainability Guidance and will continue to lobby central government for the funding needed for all local authorities to meet its Care Act obligations. Please state any support you feel Care England can offer your authority to assist care home providers this winter to accept new referrals from the local authority and NHS.



3. Please detail how the local authority share of the £162m allocated to the fair cost of care process issued with this year's local authority funding settlement for 2022/23 was spent, or will be spent, during the period 2022/23. Please state the amount received and what funds were allocated to, or will be allocated/paid to 65+ care homes.



4. Care England collects annual average care home fees for residential and nursing care on an annual basis. Please provide the average 2021/22 external provider fee rates for 65+ care homes with and without nursing per resident per week. For ease, Care England will accept the same values or calculation methodology as reported in Annex A of the Fair Cost of Care template (row 136) as submitted to the DHSC on 14 October 2022 to make provision easier for the local authority.



5. Please provide the average 2022/23 external provider fee rates for 65+ care homes with and without nursing per resident per week so far, for this financial year. For ease, Care England will accept the same values or calculation methodology as reported in Annex A of the Fair Cost of Care template (row 137) as submitted to the DHSC on 14 October 2022 to make provision easier for the local authority.



6. Care England with to understand the authority's current cost of care assumptions and would ask for the latest cost of care data to be provided. For ease, Care England will accept the total fair cost of care median values for 65+ Residential, Residential Enhanced, Nursing and Nursing Enhanced as at April 2022 as reported on Annex A of the Fair Cost of Care template (row 71) as submitted to the DHSC on the 14th October 2022 to make provision easier for the local authority.

1. As part of the Council’s procurement framework for Residential and Nursing Care, an external party was commissioned during 2021 to provide an independent review of the market and gather all the necessary cost data and evidence. The outcome of the market assessments was shared with providers as part of the 2022-2023 contract negotiation process. In accordance with the grant conditions, the 2021 market assessment was carried out within the grant window and therefore fed the exercise submitted 14 October 2022.

2. Thank you for your offer of support, at this point there isn’t any specific support the local authority would like to request.

3. The Council undertook its market assessment of 65+ care homes during 2021-2022 and uplifted the rates, informed by the market assessment, in readiness for 2022-2023.

4. The average cost of a residential placement without nursing, including top ups, was £570 per bed per week. With nursing, the average cost was £608 per bed per week.

5. The average cost of a residential placement without nursing, including top ups, is £603 per bed per week. With nursing, the average cost is £610 per bed per week.

6. The rates quoted in question 5 above result from the market assessment undertaken in 2021-2022, uplifted for increases in national living wage and inflation. These rates were agreed following the market assessment referred to in 1 above, consultation with residential providers and with due regard to its responsibilities as set out in section 5 of the Care Act 2014.