Gwynedd council ordered to recover unpaid care home fees

A council has been issued with a High Court writ to recover care fee arrears it owes to a specialist dementia home.

Meddyg Care Dementia Homes took action against Gwynedd council after it ignored a judgement made by Northampton Small Claims Court in April.

The council had built up £44,529.46 in fee arrears since March 2021 at the 40-bed care home in Criccieth.

But it argued that fees paid were "based on evidence of the real cost of care".

The order gives enforcement officers the power to seize assets from Gwynedd council if it does not comply.

Meddyg Care, which also owns a 44-bed home in Porthmadog, said it was left no choice but to launch legal proceedings in February this year after it said the council's fees fell well short of the sum needed to provide adequate care for its clients and pay staff, forcing it to operate at a loss.

Care Forum Wales (CFW) said the case was the first of its kind in Wales, but was the "tip of the iceberg".

It added the case was evidence that some councils were ignoring official guidelines to "take into account the legitimate current and future costs faced by provider".

Kevin Edwards, managing director of Meddyg Care, said Gwynedd council's fees covered just 28 hours of personal care for its clients per week - when most needed more than 44 hours.

The 43-year-old, from Porthmadog, said he had been forced to invest £700,000 of personal funds last year to sustain the home in the future without sufficient financial support from the council.

"We never thought it would go this far but enough was enough. Effectively, all they are doing is depriving vulnerable people within our community of the necessary funds to pay for their care," he said.

"I want to ask for a vote of no confidence in the health and social care department of Gwynedd council as clearly they are not looking out for the people in our community, especially the vulnerable who have dementia and need specialist support.

"One of Care Inspectorate Wales' regulations is that you have to run a business which is financially sound. We were going to operate at a loss if we accepted their fee - it was significantly lower than what we needed.

"We had six months of correspondence between ourselves and the council and we tried to engage and demonstrate our costs. They refused to accept it and it left us with no choice to launch legal proceedings in the small claims court.

"I feel very sad we've had to go down this route to get the appropriate fee but sadly it's not an exceptional case. The general public need to know how they are abusing these providers."

Mario Kreft, chair of CFW, said the court's judgement backed up what they had been saying for a long time - that underfunding across the sector was unlawful and driving many homes out of business.

"Local authorities in Wales have received an additional £36.5m to meet the extra costs of paying staff the Real Living Wage. Why then, in north Wales, are they refusing to pass on this extra funding to the frontline of social care?" he said.

"Our care workers deserve every penny of this uplift for putting their lives on the line during the pandemic and for the fantastic job they continue to do to protect the vulnerable."

A Gwynedd council spokesperson said: "Gwynedd's residential and nursing fees are set in collaboration with other local authorities across north Wales, using the latest information from providers amongst other factors. The fees paid are consistent across providers, and based on evidence of the real cost of care, whilst providing value for public money.

"As all providers and Care Forum Wales are aware, Gwynedd residential and nursing fees for 2022/23 have been set in-line with the regional work. However, the Council has committed to further work during the first few months of this financial year (2022-23), in order to evaluate the affordability and sustainability of paying a higher fee to providers.

"As a Council, we strongly dispute any claim that the council's responsibility to the frail and vulnerable people of Gwynedd is in any way compromised."