'˜NHS pays us peanuts' says owner of closing care home

Hook Hall, in Hook, near Goole is the fourth to close in the East Riding in the past 12 months and follows the closures of Londesborough Court in Market Weighton and Westwood Park and Molescroft Court in Beverley.

Owner Jim Ford said they had become a “cheap option” for social services and the NHS. There were also problems recruiting the right staff when there was other work available in factories and warehouses and the amount paid by the East Riding Council - £447 - equated to just £2.66 an hour.

Mr Ford said he’d been having arguments with the NHS, who were wanting to pay council fees for patients discharged from hospital but still needed hospital beds in the home. Rules about moving people meant most people needed two staff to look after them.

He said: “The NHS is run for the NHS, for the staff who work for the NHS, but they don’t fund us like a hospital. They pay peanuts. You can’t do it on the money the council pays and the NHS expects to pay.”

Coun Keith Moore, who represents Goole North, blamed council budget cuts and tax freezes, adding: “If that’s all he’s receiving it’s clearly inadequate. This is yet another example of our social care system in meltdown - 900 workers a day left last year because of low pay, long hours and high demands.”

East Riding Council did not comment on the figures, but said: “Hook Hall is a family-owned, small residential care home with a good reputation locally and is rated as good in all domains by the CQC. The council was informed that the owners intend to retire, and we understand that the home has had difficulty recruiting and retaining staff.”

They would work with families and partners to ensure there was a “smooth transition” for residents to another home.