Family calls for rethink on care home fees
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A RETIRED civil engineer from Golspie is calling for a restructure of fees charged by NHS and local authority run care and nursing homes.
Bruce Field (85) whose wife Dorothy (82) became a resident at the village’s NHS Highland run Seaforth House Care Home six months ago, believes the present system is unfair.
The couple are paying in the region of £50,000 a year for her care and will have to do so until their personal savings reach a threshold of £28,500.
Meanwhile those without means receive the same care free of charge, with the bill picked up by the taxpayer.
Mr Field would like to see a system put in place whereby care and nursing home fees are scaled back the longer a person is in care.
“I would like to see a graded system introduced for those who are self-funding,” he explained. “The payment could start off at the top level, but then be reduced, say, after two years and then sequentially over the next 10 years.
“I don’t expect to see any changes made in my lifetime but at the moment the system is inequitable. People who have paid the most tax are being taxed again.
“It also penalises those who have been thrifty and built up a nest egg, some of which they would like to see passed down to their families.”
Mr Field has been in touch with the office of Highlands and Islands MSP Edward Mountain (Conservative) and hopes to speak to him about the issue.
