Elderly 'face care fee confusion'

So-called "self-funders" - those who do not qualify for council support - are being left "scrabbling around" for information at often the most vulnerable time of their lives, according to the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI).

A report by the commission found that more than half of care homes - 22 out of 38 - visited in a study of 10 councils, charged different rates for people funded by their councils compared with those who paid for their own care.

The care home providers said they had resorted to "cross-subsidy" to compensate where councils had negotiated lower rates which they claimed did not properly fund the cost of care.

The report also found that homes were not providing personalised fee information to people until the last moment, sometimes on the day the person moved in.

People paying as much as £30,000 a year for a room in a care home often did not know exactly what they would be paying for, it said. Advertised fees for places in the same care home could also vary hugely - in one case from £650 to £1,500 a week - without a clear explanation of why some people paid more and what their money would buy.

In areas without enough care services to meet demand, even those people moving into care homes who were funded by the council were being asked to pay "top-up fees" to cover higher charges, the report found.

Half the "self-funders" responding to the survey for the report said they did not have a care needs assessment from their local council, leaving them at a disadvantage when deciding about the most appropriate form of care.

But two-thirds of older people interviewed who had moved into a care home and were council funded were generally satisfied with the assessment of their needs and the outcome, the report found.

The report calls for access to expert, impartial advice and information for people choosing a care home. There should also be clarity about what people are paying for and who pays for what, it said.