Council pays £44,500 fee arrears to care home after bailiff threat

A Welsh care home boss who took a council to court over unpaid fee arrears has accused the authority of blocking families from accessing specialist dementia care.

Kevin Edwards, owner of Meddyg Care Dementia Homes, issued a High Court writ against Gwynedd Council after it ignored a judgement made by Northampton Small Claims Court in April ordering it to repay £44,529 in fee arrears at its 40-bed Criccieth home.

The Gwynedd council finally agreed to pay the outstanding debt after being told that High Court bailiffs had the power to seize its assets.

'Absurd' the council 'don't want to pay' for specialist dementia care

However, Mr Edwards says the council has now refused to send any more residents to the care home, except in an emergency. Instead it is sending people to cheaper domiciliary care or care homes outside of the county that do not offer the same level of dementia support.

Mr Edwards has called the situation “absurd”, particularly as other councils outside of Gwynedd, including Anglesey, are regularly placing people at the care home because of the specialist dementia care it provides.

Isle of Anglesey County Council has placed 10 people at the care home in the last three weeks but Mr Edwards said people living in Gwynedd “are being sent out of area where Gwynedd Council can secure a cheaper deal”.

‘Extremely upsetting'

Kevin Edwards said: “In a nutshell, Gwynedd don’t want to pay for specialist dementia services. The council are telling families sorry we do not commission services from Meddyg Care, you have to go further afield, but there’s a completely different perspective from other councils."

The owner of Meddyg Care, which also owns a 44-bed home in Porthmadog, said: “Gwynedd Council are depriving people of access to specialist dementia care services.

"We’ve had funding for one or two places because it’s been an emergency and it’s end of life care, at that stage there’s no quality of life left for them. Basically, they’re leaving it as late as possible before admitting them. It’s a long journey from when you are first diagnosed with dementia...that journey should as enjoyable as possible. Gwynedd Council are not providing that support to facilitate that to the good people of the county. That’s extremely upsetting.”

Mr Edwards said he was left with no choice but to launch legal proceedings last February, after Gwynedd Council’s fees "fell well short" of the sum needed to provide adequate care for its clients and remunerate staff – forcing it to operate at a loss.

Mr Edwards said the firm had signed up to the Real Living Wage Foundation last March to provide all of its workers with the Real Living Wage of £9.90 per hour - going beyond the Welsh Government’s commitment. This added a five per cent increase to its fees.

'Stripping' frail and vulnerable of their care rights

Care Forum Wales (CFW) which represents care home providers in Wales, said the legal case was the first of its kind in Wales and demonstrated 'a gross and unlawful abuse of the council’s responsibilities' to people in its local community.

The council has paid its arrears but CFW said this was ‘a small and meaningless victory for the people of Gwynedd who are still being denied’ the right to the high-level dementia care they need.

Mary Wimbury, the chief executive of CFW, said: “This is an appalling state of affairs with the biggest losers being the frail and most vulnerable people in our community.

“By denying local people spaces until it’s too late, Gwynedd is basically stripping them of their rights and adding to the ongoing heartache and suffering of the patient and their loved ones.

“We have already highlighted that councils are ignoring their legal obligations to take into account the legitimate current and future costs faced by providers and this is just another example of an authority falling short of the public’s and sector’s expectations.”

Mr Edwards said they were still in negotiation with Gwynedd Council but said: “I’ve said before we cannot operate this kind of service on the fees they want to pay.”

“Gwynedd is failing to recognise our location and how much harder it is for us to secure staff. If they reached out to us to said let’s understand your costs and why, we would say no problem, we’ll talk it through. We should not have to take this course of action to get the money we were owed to us.”

A Gwynedd Council spokesperson said: “Gwynedd’s residential and nursing fees are set in collaboration with other local authorities across North Wales, using the latest information from providers amongst other factors.

"The fees paid are consistent across providers, and based on evidence of the real cost of care, whilst providing value for public money.

“As all providers are aware, Gwynedd residential and nursing fees for 2022-23 have been set in-line with the regional work. However, in light of cost increases, the council has committed to further work during the first few months of this financial year (2022-23), in order to evaluate the affordability and sustainability of paying a higher fee to providers.

“As a council, we strongly dispute the claim that we as an authority are blocking families from accessing specialist dementia care. Where a need for specialist dementia care has been identified, we work with individuals and their families to consider options, including residential care.

"We have a duty to provide value for money and cannot commission placements where we do not feel that the fee is sufficiently justified.”

click here for more details or to contact Meddyg Care Dementia Homes - Criccieth