There are no central government funded homes and very few local government funded CH/NH in the UK any more.A long term care facility is much more reasonably priced and receives government funding.
There are expensive (sometime very expensive CH/NH) that do run at a reasonable profit. However below that level it is not easy to make a "good" profit. Around 70/75% of all expense is on wages. Next year when the government living wage comes in that will go even higher and things will get worse unless there is a large increase in fees.The expensive retirement homes manage very well. They are run for profit so I do not understand why British care homes charging similar fees cannot manage.
I can only speak for the privately-run care home my mum was in. It was expensive, however the care was excellent and that was enough for me. I have no idea how much profit the owners made, and having never met a care home owner have no idea what their income is compared to other businesses.
All kinds of people earn their living from providing services we would rather not have to buy. It's not anyone's fault that my eyesight is so rubbish that my optician has to charge me a small fortune for my glasses and contact lenses. She's a business owner and no doubt has bills to pay like everyone else.
I have said it before on TP but will again. Good care costs and if we want carers to be paid a decent wage we either have to pay for it ourselves through the fees or be willing to pay higher taxes/NI during our working lives. There is no money tree.
Our taxes felt pretty hefty when we were younger....now we're old, and we're told the cupboard is bare...I can only speak for the privately-run care home my mum was in. It was expensive, however the care was excellent and that was enough for me. I have no idea how much profit the owners made, and having never met a care home owner have no idea what their income is compared to other businesses.
All kinds of people earn their living from providing services we would rather not have to buy. It's not anyone's fault that my eyesight is so rubbish that my optician has to charge me a small fortune for my glasses and contact lenses. She's a business owner and no doubt has bills to pay like everyone else.
I have said it before on TP but will again. Good care costs and if we want carers to be paid a decent wage we either have to pay for it ourselves through the fees or be willing to pay higher taxes/NI during our working lives. There is no money tree.
With you all the way on this one. Looking down the road: hoping it is a long one. I have thought of a live in nurse/carer as an option. Hope it's a long way ahead but it seems an option worth considering. As you say there is no money tree. G L
Those are my thoughts too GL. It worked for some friends of ours.
I think we can tighten our belts; we've done it before. I can still remember being hungry in wartime, when Make Do and Mend was the motto. My mum would make dresses for me by cutting down her own. Probably that's why I get told off by my kids because I hoard things!
Pickles53 said:I have said it before on TP but will again. Good care costs and if we want carers to be paid a decent wage we either have to pay for it ourselves through the fees or be willing to pay higher taxes/NI during our working lives. There is no money tree.
Our taxes felt pretty hefty when we were younger....now we're old, and we're told the cupboard is bare...
One of the problems with free at point of use is that we do not know how much our treatments and prescriptions actually cost, so I don't think we appreciate how the costs of treatment are continually rising. I have not so far needed to make much use of the services I have contributed for, but to me that is fortunate. I have paid for house insurance for many years too, and am grateful that my house has never burned down rather than feeling it's unfair that I have never been able to make a claim.
I have worked all my life and paid taxes and NI and actually used very little of the services I have paid into. I don't mind that but I do mind being asked to pay again in my old age when I thought that was a hefty chunk of what I was paying for in the years I have been working