CARE HOME BEDS - SHRINKING?
Figures from carehome.co.uk, which lists all registered care homes, show that at the start of January 2022, there were 12,472 registered care homes in the UK but by the end of the year, this had dropped to 12,281, with a loss of 191 care homes.
Loss of 1,033 care home beds across the UK
The number of care home beds stood at 488,518 at the beginning of January 2022 but by the end of the year, this had fallen to 487,485, with a loss of 1,033 care home beds.
Richard Stebles, head of business intelligence at carehome.co.uk, the UK’s leading care home reviews site, said: “This drop in the number of care homes reflects the tough challenges that the sector faced in 2022.
“Following the daunting adversity of the pandemic across 2020 and 2021, care homes are now assailed with sky high costs in 2022: energy bills have soared and recruitment in the post-Brexit environment remains tricky, leading to a reliance on more costly agency staff. The financial pressures have sadly caused many providers to collapse.”
‘We need to see the number of care home beds growing, not shrinking’
“It is critical that the UK’s care provision can keep up with demand, growing in line with population. We need to see the number of homes and beds growing, not shrinking. Whilst some regions such as London have seen an increase in care homes, it is clearly not enough. The consequence is elderly people stuck in NHS facilities, with the knock-on effects for waiting times and service for all NHS users.”
With the UK population ageing, the problem looks only set to worsen, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) predicting that more than 24% of people living in the UK will be aged 65 or older by 2042, which is up from 18% in 2016.
Trend towards bigger care homes
The number of beds per care home has seen a rise going from 39.2 residents per care home to 39.7 per care home showing a move towards bigger care homes. The regions with the biggest care homes are in Scotland and the North East with both having an average of 44 residents per care home.
Mr Stebles added: “One new trend we have seen is that the new homes that have opened in 2022 have been typically larger than average. These new homes are more energy-efficient and with care homes forced to abide by strict regulations that they should be heated above a certain temperature, this may help with keeping fee increases down for residents.”
Figures from carehome.co.uk revealed:
The number of care home beds increased in London in 2022 by 253 to 30,676.
South West England saw a drop going from 1428 to 1381 with a fall of 47 care homes and 457 beds.
The region with the biggest loss of beds was North West England with 453.
As a whole England saw its number of care home beds drop by 471 from 413,455 to 412,984.
Wales also saw a drop in care homes in 2022, going from 649 to 632 with a loss of 17 care homes, equating to 206 beds.
While Scotland saw a small rise of 29 in its number of beds from 38,300 to 38,329.
