Shock hike at Herefordshire care costs

9:37am Thursday 24th January 2013 in News

Alan and Linda Legerton are shocked at the increase in daily day centre charges Alan and Linda Legerton are shocked at the increase in daily day centre charges

THE cost of daycare for one local couple has risen by a huge 2,000 per cent following a funding review.

Alan and Linda Legerton say they fear for others now facing similar rises as Herefordshire Council revises charging structures for community services.

Alan and Linda, from Clehonger, fought for four years to get full cover for the cost of Linda’s care at Hereford’s Canal Road Day Centre.

But care that cost £4.45 a day has gone up to £105.65 a day – a rise of 2,274 per cent.

While the cover means Linda’s costs will – for now at least – still be met through the council and Wye Valley Health Trust (WVT), Alan says such huge rises will price other daycare users, and their carers, out of what can be the only respite they receive.

Alan has been a fulltime carer to Linda since 1990. She has a combination of conditions that mean he has to be constantly on hand.

WVT, which runs Linda's day centre, said users of centres and other related services had been charged a flat rate which included a subsidy from Herefordshire Council that has now been withdrawn. 

This has meant a change to the daily costs for a number of service users with some paying less and some more.

The Trust said costs at Canal Road vary from £24 to £106 with the actual cost per person depending on the level of support they require, but they will only be charged according to what they can afford to pay following a financial assessment. 

Comments(10)

Marian June says...
1:34pm Thu 24 Jan 13

The cost of care generally is extortionate!! I receive 3hrs care daily. Not only is the price too hgh, the standard of care is very poor. The hob pays minimum wage and the carers have no heart in doing the work because the money is so dreadful. If LESS money went in paying big fat salaries to big fat cat bosses, then there would be more funds to increase carers pay, then they would hopefully take more pride in their job and do a better service. But that doesn't lessen the cost of the care, it just hopefully improves the care standard. To lessen the cost of care we need to take more tax from the pot to fund it, and MPs and bosses need to STOP wasting money on new systems, new conputers, new ideas, that always DON'T WORK, and wastes millions!!!! And stop wasting money on art work for town centres, etc, and junkets, I could go on but I'd be here all day, but you all get the gist!!! :-) Grrrr to the MPs and bosses taking too much for themselves - reduce their pay and expenses, and fatten the care coffers instead!!!

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dippyhippy says...
2:46pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Well said Marion June,and a big well done to the Hereford Times,for putting this on the front page.The vulnerable ARE being targeted,as we have said so often on this site. People ARE being priced out of using these vital facilities,and they WILL close - with the council telling us they are under utilised. This is an absolte disgrace. The amount of form filling, the appointments,the endless repetition of circumstaces that carers have to go through,causes un-told stress.I know of families,struggling to keep their disabled children-in their 20's 30's even 40's at home.These parents are now retirement age themselves.they save the council a huge amount by caring for them,yet their respite is being taken out of their reach.Some parents I know are too worried to put their children(I use the term children - they are adults )into residential placements,as they are so concerned about what sort of care they would receive given all the press reports about places such as the recently closed Bristol care home.These people desreve help.Not to have the rug pulled out from underneath them. Do you know,that for these elderly carers,they cannot claim a carers allowance,when they start to claim the state pension? As if their caring role somehow miraculously decrease once they turn 60/65 ? This is a disgrace. What I really want to know is what precisely,Jesse Norman and Bill Wiggins have to say about it.I await their comments !

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bobby47 says...
2:54pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Marion, Grrrr...indeed. As soon as I read your post I thought, 'Hi up. This Poster is going to fit in here straight away'.
You might say,'Good grief. How can he know these things?'
You can Marion. When you've been posting as long as me and Dippy have you get a quick gut feeling about these things almost straightaway.
Well said my good friend. My compliment to you is for me not to transmit a single vowel or consonant other than to agree entirely with your view.
My very warmest regards to you.

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Themightyboosh says...
4:40pm Thu 24 Jan 13

VILE!!!! i have ranted on this subject before. and i can tell you for a fact that it has priced a large number of people out of day care.

Secondly
if everyone was paying £4.45
and it now costs between £24-£106
how can they justify the statment
"some paying less and some more"

it should say
"everyone is paying at least %500 more"

slimy money grabbing swines.
preying on those least able to defend themselvs.

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megilleland says...
7:29pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Election of Unitary Councillor for the Ross-on-Wye West Ward held today. Interesting to see the result and how it could affect the Council if the Conservative candidate loses.

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Themightyboosh says...
8:46pm Thu 24 Jan 13

here is an idea we raise all exec wages
by %7 and stop ALL expence claims
holiday inn shares would rocket
and we would save
lets say enough

to undo this idocy

chris bulls expencies alone would have payd for 358 fully funded days for this lady
remembering its probably 1 day a week you do the math

and jarvis is probably on far more

who would you rather see it go to

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WYSIATI says...
10:45pm Thu 24 Jan 13

Am I missing something (quite likely)? Isn't the point of this not a change in what the person pays - the costs are still covered by the state - but actually putting a real cost on what it takes to provide the service?

There is no way you can either run or pay for services if you can't see what they actually cost.

Of course once you see just how expensive some things are there will be all sorts of pressure to a) bring those costs down (let's outsource it and pay people less) and b) have less of it (by cutting provision or making more people who are assessed as being able to afford it, pay for it)

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Themightyboosh says...
6:43am Fri 25 Jan 13

unfortunatly wysaiati
if you have some small amount put away
and i mean small.
our glorious council expects you to pay the full amount.
untill you have next to nothing left.

i dont know about you but i and moast of these people were taught to have some emergency savings in case eg the boiler breaks down.

if you have worked all your life and are struck down by illness would you want to spend your last "emergency money"
i think not

so the hard choice is to be stuck in your home.
or spend your last penny
and go into debt if sompthing goes wrong

what would you do?

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fmrbill says...
8:06pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Folks my bank manager and accountant say I am no good at maths so here goes. If all the councillors took a 2000% reduction in wages/expenses/tax payer contributions to their public pension would they still earn anything .. Cos if they did then the reduction isntenough and would need to be more cos their are worth bugger. However im sure it worth make a large dent in the missing care costs and support the needed vunerable persons of our society not these bloody fat money grabbing good for nothing councillors who havent got a good bone in their body just money grabbing self concideted ignorant people. OR AM I TOTALLY WRONG WITH MY MATHS AND VIEWS? Yes im angry )

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dippyhippy says...
3:31pm Sat 26 Jan 13

fmrbill, you have every right to be angry,this situation makes my blood boil. I just can't see why targeting this,the most vulnerable of groups,would appeal to any political party.Come the next election these Tory swine must go.

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