Denbighshire care home funding betraying the vulnerable - campaigner

Care Forum Wales' Mario Kreft said the proposals amount to a "betrayal of vulnerable people with dementia"

People in care homes in a north Wales county could face a £9,000 funding gap to those in a neighbouring area, a campaigner has claimed.

Denbighshire council is set to agree an 8.8% increase in residential and nursing home care fees for 2023-24.

But Care Forum Wales has said this increase was poor compared with Conwy council's 20% rise, and amounted to a real terms cut.

Denbighshire council said care was "at the heart of its priorities".

Mario Kreft, chairman of Care Forum Wales, said Denbighshire councillors "should be ashamed of themselves if they betray vulnerable people with dementia in this way".

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"Denbighshire are starting from the lowest possible base because they pay the lowest care home fees in Wales," he said.

"This proposed increase is not going to come close to solving the chronic underfunding of social care in the county... it will immediately be wiped out by inflation and the cost-of-living crisis."

'Teetering on the financial brink'

Mr Kreft said, unlike Denbighshire, Conwy had recognised that its care homes "are teetering on the financial brink".

He claimed that the proposals would see Denbighshire pay £9,224 a year less per person than in Conwy for providing exactly the same level of nursing care to residents.

"In a 40-bed care home that equates to a disparity of nearly £370,000 a year, which could mean the difference between staying open and being forced to close.

"Why should an elderly person with dementia in Rhyl be worth £9,000 less than an elderly person just across the Foryd Bridge in Kinmel Bay?"

Elen Heaton, Denbighshire's lead member for health and social care, said the proposed 8.8% increase was "substantially more than the modest 3.8%" funding increase the council received.

"While this decision comes with financial implications, it reflects our priorities as a council and upholds our commitment to prioritising care provision in our community," she said.

Denbighshire's cabinet will discuss the matter on Tuesday 19 March.