Families waiting for months to find care home places, research reveals

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Families are facing months’ long waits to find care home places for their loved ones, new research has revealed.

Data released to the Daily Express by care comparison website Care Sourcer revealed one in five families waited for longer than two months to find a care home place with one in 10 waiting more than four months for a place or not finding a provider at all.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “We know things are so bad in some places that it is becoming impossible to source care, even if you can afford it personally.”

The data also revealed that more than a third of people (35%) expected a care home would cost less than £400 a week in contrast to Age UK data which reveals that residential care averages between £600 and £800 a week.

By region, families in Wales were typically found to wait for 42 days for care support compared with just 20 days in the north east.

Almost one in three people (29%) said they contacted more than four care providers before finding the right support with one in five (20%) having to take a provider more than 15 miles from their home.  Almost one in ten (9%) had to travel more than 30 miles to a care home.

Andrew Parfery, the chief executive of Care Sourcer, said: “The results are clear – Britons are clearly underestimating the realities around finding and funding care.

“Not only do they expect care to be found much more quickly and easily than is really the case, in many instances they are having to eventually settle for care that is located much further away than they would have hoped.

“Part of the issue is that our care system is struggling. There is a missing link between providers and those seeking support.

“We think technology can be the answer by matching people to care providers in their local area and within just a few hours.”

The post Families waiting for months to find care home places, research reveals appeared first on Care Home Professional.

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