Nearly half of people have no idea how much a care home costs

People in Britain have a very poor understanding of the care system, according to a report by the Strategic Society Centre and care home provider Anchor.

The report ‘Right Care, Right Price’ reveals that the British public is oblivious to the realities of the adult social care system and their own likelihood of developing care needs.

It shows that nearly half (48 per cent) of adults have not given any thought at all as to how they will pay for their own care and half of people (50 per cent) have no idea how much a week in a care home costs. On average, those who could give an estimate put the cost at £397 per week – around £140 a week (or more than £7,000 a year) less than the average care home fees across the UK.

Knowledge of local authority support is also low. Over 60 per cent (61 per cent) of people were clueless as to how much help they could get towards paying for their care home costs from their local authority.

The proposed cap on care costs seems to have added to the confusion. Over half (53 per cent) of people in the UK are not aware that the Government will be introducing a cap on care costs in 2016 and two fifths (41 per cent) have no idea what will be included in the cap.

Nearly half (48 per cent) of people believe that the proposed care cap will include the cost of a room in a care home and over a third (35 per cent) of people think that the cost of their food and drink in a care home will be included – neither is the case.

In the wake of these findings, Anchor has renewed its call for a Cabinet level Minister for Older People to help future-proof our ageing society. Over three quarters (77 per cent) of people say the Government is simply not ready for the impact of an ageing population and a similar proportion (76 per cent) say there should be one person in the Cabinet responsible for ensuring the Government is preparing for our ageing society.

Anchor’s chief executive Jane Ashcroft said: “We risk an oblivious ageing population sleepwalking into an uncertain future. In response to this report, we have reignited our call for Government to stop dragging its heels and do more to prepare for demographic change – only by making one person accountable for our evolving needs can we protect older people living in the UK today as well as future generations.”

The Grey Pride campaign has already received the support of 137,000 people who signed a petition asking for the Government to appoint a Minister, and since then a Commons debate resulted in MPs voting in favour of the motion.

More information on the report and its exploration of how local care markets determine the price of care can be found at www.carehome.co.uk/news/article.cfm/id/1561035/care-sector-mixed-economy-reform