I m livid over care charge increase (From Barry And District News)

I m livid over care charge increase

A BARRY woman described herself as being absolutely livid when she discovered her sick and elderly mother s community care charge had quadrupled.

Joan Hughes, who is 80 and lives in Arthur Davies Court, is totally dependent on carers coming in to her home and looking after her.

Joan has a serious chest complaint and relies on oxygen being fed to her from a pipe.

Last week, Joan s daughter, Joanna Hill, 48, discovered a letter which had been sent to her mum by the Vale council informing her that her weekly charge for community care had more than quadrupled from 10 to 40.93.

Joanna, who lives in Wenvoe Terrace, said: The letter was dated February but my mum had been too ill to open it. I couldn t believe it when I saw it. I am absolutely livid.

My mum fortunately can afford to pay it, but I am worried that there are others out there that can t.

Living in her own home is everything to my mum. It would cost the council a lot more to put people into homes.

The council seems to have targeted the weakest members of society. I can fight it but my mum can t.

If the electricity board sent a bill out with this kind of increase on the charge, this wouldn t be allowed as there are regulators to stop that happening.

A spokesperson for the Vale of Glamorgan Council explained that the rise in care charges was as a consequence of the Welsh Assembly s Fairer Charging guidance, which required all councils to take certain issues into account when assessing the ability of any client to contribute to the cost of care.

For some clients this has resulted in a reduction in their charges, said the spokesperson.

Some have remained the same, while the charges for others have increased.

All clients are able to appeal against the new charge on the grounds of financial hardship and the directorate is currently dealing with these appeals.

Mike Williams, who is a campaigner for disability rights group Time to Get Equal has slammed the council s reassessment of people who require care in the Vale.

This is a major thing, as there are 1,785 people in the Vale who have this service, and it s making people ill, said Mike, who has a disabled son himself.

People are having to cut back on their other expenses in order to pay for care. Disabled people and people who require care just have not got the money.

They should be treated better this.