Scotland faces long term care crisis
From The Scotsman:
A POTENTIAL crisis in long-term care is looming. Advances in medicalscience have seen life expectancy soar – and with it the incidence ofprolonged health problems and the need for care in old age.
Although the Community Care & Health (Scotland) Act 2002 wasbilled as providing “free care for all”, it only introduced freepersonal care at home – and even then, this is subject to availability.
“There’s a perception that care is paid for,” said Jason Hemmings,an associate director of Albannach Financial Management, which stagedthree Edinburgh seminars on the subject last month.
“The government contributed to that, claiming recent legislationintroduced ‘free care in Scotland’, but it’s quite easy to see thatcare isn’t free.”
So far, the government has shown little inclination to give everyoneentitlement to whatever long-term care they require – includingdomestic and nursing care – free of charge.
Lesley Collins, the managing director of the independent financialadviser Independent Women, said: “We’re facing a potential futurecrisis in long-term care. But, for the time being, the onus is on us asindividuals to provide for ourselves.”
And it is far from cheap. In Scotland, everyone is entitled to aflat rate of £145 per week, once they become resident in a care home.An extra £65 is payable for those who require nursing care in thathome.
But, the cost of care in your own home amounts to a typical £350 perweek – £18,200 per year, according to Laing & Buisson. The Scottishaverage for care in a nursing home comes in at £406 per week – some£21,100 per annum – which leaves a significant short-fall.