Report extols value of care cost studies

All councils should investigate the true costs of care in their areas to ensure providers are given a fair price, a report suggests.

The English Community Care Association says costs-of-care exercises, carried out by authorities in partnership with providers, can provide councils with ammunition to lobby government for more money.

Achieving a Fair Price of Care outlines the disadvantages of such exercises, in terms of the likely increase in costs, including a possible reduction in the number of people eligible for publicly funded care.

But the association’s director of community care, Ann Mackay, said the pros outweighed the cons, and the Commission for Social Care Inspection should assess councils on whether they had carried out a cost-of-care exercise.

She added: “In no other setting would a purchaser set and pay a price for a service without any reference to its actual full cost.”