§ Baroness Greengrossasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people aged over state retirement age live in (a) residential care homes and (b) nursing homes, quantified by number and proportion for (i) self-funders (ii) those funded by income support and (iii) those funded by the National Health Service. [HLI469]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathAt 31 March 2000, there were 263, 200 residential places for people aged 65 and over1 in residential care homes and 149,600 registered nursing beds for them in nursing homes2 in England. The number of people who are resident in residential care homes and paying for their own care is not available centrally. A survey conducted in June 2001 estimated that around 42,700 residents in general and mental nursing homes were paying wholly for their own care, but no information is collected by age.
Information collected by health and social care consultants Laing & Buisson on the number of people in residential and nursing homes who are funded by the National Health Service is available in the company's publication, Care of Elderly People Market Survey 2001, published in July 2001.
The numbers of income support claimants aged over state pension age and who are in residential care and nursing homes is available from the Department for Work and Pensions and shown in the table.
1 Client group of older people and older people who are mentally infirm.
2 General and mental nursing homes, private hospitals and clinics.
109WA
Income support claimants of state pension age in residental care of nursing homes, August 2001. Great Britain Thousands Number of cases All cases 205.5 Preserved Rights Residential Care 20.6 Preserved Rights Nursing Homes 12.9 Residential Allowance 172.0 Source:
Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry August 2001, DWP.
Notes:
1. Pension age claimants are defined as male over 64, female over 59.
2. Figures are based on a 5 per cent sample and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling error.
3. Caseload figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred and are expressed in thousands.
§ Baroness Greengrossasked Her Majesty's Government:
What estimate they have made of the number of people who were forced to sell their main home to pay for long-term care fees in 2000–01. [HL1470]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathThese data are not collected centrally. Through policies announced in the NHS Plan, and implemented in 2001, the Government have made changes to the system for residential care charges that mean that people may not have to sell their homes on admission to residential care.