Care fees could leave us bankrupt, says husband

Paul Stone is worried about the prospect of bankruptcy due to care home fees

A Sheffield man has said his wife’s care home fees could leave him bankrupt.

Sue Stone, 73, has dementia and lives at Moorend Place care home in Walkley, where her care costs about £63,000 a year.

Her husband Paul, 74, said fees had increased by 15% in the past two years, adding: "It takes much of what we have."

Roseberry Care Centres, which runs Moorend Place, said it did not make decisions on pricing lightly and that higher energy and food prices, as well as rises in the minimum wage and living wage, had caused fees to increase.

Mr Stone told the BBC he had had to cut back on outgoings and had considered downsizing his house to afford his wife’s care.

He said: “I’m not bankrupt, but my wife is 73 years old and this could go on for many years by which time I probably will be bankrupt."

Mrs Stone receives £12,275 a year in NHS-funded nursing care which goes towards the costs, but more than £50,000 of the fees are paid for by the couple’s savings and pensions.

‘Terribly unfair’

Mr Stone said private care companies were taking advantage of self-funded care home users following the underfunding of councils.

“So we're being hit twice - the first time I have to pay my fees and the second time I have to pay more than the local authority pays. I just think it's terribly unfair," he said.

“All of this hurts, the emotional pain is frightening going through all of this."

He added he wanted it to be easier for people like his wife to access financial support to help pay for care.

NHS South Yorkshire said it had a robust assessment process when it came to working out what funding people were eligible for and that all decisions were quality assured by a senior health professional.

It also said it had an appeal process in place for people who were not happy with the outcome of the assessment.

A spokesperson for Roseberry Care Centres said: "Unfortunately, decisions to change our fees have had to be made to reflect the increased costs that the whole industry, and indeed country, is facing, including higher energy and food prices and National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage pay increases."

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