With the recent news that almost 10% of Britain’s care home places will become unavailable within five years due to huge cutbacks, care is once again in the limelight. We are all destined to grow old at some point and when we do we’ll likely need some form of care. The question is are we taking the correct approach as a society or is there a better way of doing things?

Around 1,500 care homes are set to close and elderly residents have been warned that they could face extended hospital stays as a result. This will place a severe additional strain on an already stretched NHS, who have themselves recommended care at home as a beneficial alternative.

With more cuts no doubt on the way, we wonder if the level of care in care homes will suffer as a result. Is it possible the care industry is in need of a revolution? And does this revolution involve more people staying at home, where they feel comfortable?

Perhaps a mix of live in care and visiting care is the solution. We feel that many people would prefer the familiar surroundings of their own home, but that unless funding is directed toward live in care then the only option for some people, especially those with less savings will be to go to a residential care home. And with cuts raking through this area too, that care home in increasingly in danger of providing a substandard level of care.

This is why we are trying our best to make live in care affordable for more people by reducing the fees we charge. Though, for a large proportion of elderly people, even this will be out of reach unless the government start to offer a viable funding option for live in care too.