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The nursing home operator has been rated “greedy” for telling relatives of private residents to pay nearly £ 200 more a month to cover coronavirus-related costs.
Agincare sent some 300 families already paying £ 4,000 a month in the region a bill for a “PPE surcharge” of £ 6.47 per day for April.
It added to a 5% increase in rates last month, and they were warned that they face the same bill monthly until the pandemic subsides.
But families said the cost for April was unwarranted since staff only received the PPE on April 15. And a relative said they received a bill even though their elderly aunt died nearly two months.
make. Family-run Agincare is based in Dorset, owns 20 homes, and made a profit of £ 2.36 million in 2018.
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Jan Urquijo, whose mother Pauline, 93, pays £ 939 per week at the Bournemouth home in Blenheim, was “horrified” by his demands.
She said: “The care industry is not losing money like other companies.
“They still get their money every month, whether it’s from individuals, social services or the NHS.
“At a time when we have seen a lot of positivity and united people, I think Agincare should take the hit of what, in the grand scheme, is not a huge amount of money from their profit share. They say it is not just for PPE but also for personnel costs. But no company increases prices for that.
“If you had a winter staff shortage due to illness, that’s something the company has to swallow from its earnings.
“The home my mother is in has had no Covid cases or staff illnesses.
“I know they weren’t wearing PPE on April 14, but my mother is being charged £ 6.47 per day. I am appalled, it is disgusting. I am appalled at their attitude, they are just greedy. Residents who pay fees are subsidizing those who pay the social services, however, all receive the same level of care. How unfair is that?
“I wrote to you saying that you cannot justify this and have not yet received a response.
“They expect it to be paid within 14 days, but I won’t pay.”
Marlene Kennedy’s older aunt died in one of the Agincare homes in March, but she said she had still been asked to pay the April PPE surcharge. She said: “It is incredible. I could understand if it had happened a day or two later, but not six weeks. It just isn’t in what is supposed to be a caring profession.
“I spoke to your CFO and I just received condolences and what a very weak apology as far as I’m concerned.”
Barbara Collins, whose mother-in-law is in one of the company’s homes, criticized the private residents’ demands for cash as “unfair.”
She said: “There is a great injustice among which the residents are charged. I feel that the paying residents are subsidizing many of the other residents.”
The invoice was accompanied by a letter from Agincare Chief Financial Officer Owen Griffiths titled “Covid-19: Additional Costs.”
He said they had “no choice but to bill a temporary surcharge to add to the additional costs.” The letter adds that these costs were the “additional use and price of PPE and the increase in personnel costs.”
Derek Luckhurst, owner and president of Agincare, defended the rate increase.
He said: “We are not asking residents to pay for PPE.
“We are asking them to contribute to significantly increasing care costs, of which EPP represents less than 30%.
“We have additional personnel costs to meet the additional demands of the coronavirus outbreak, we also have legal sick pay costs.
“We are experiencing around 10% of the staff being sick, which is roughly 400 employees each receiving £ 98.85 a week, that’s £ 38,000 a week. Then we have to staff the care home, which means attracting agency staff to cover, which generally costs more than our staff.
“This is a temporary measure and will be reviewed monthly, and the additional costs will be considered.”
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According to research from the Royal College of Nursing, three-quarters of social care nurses and temporary contractors say they have not been offered a test for coronavirus. Of those who were not offered a test, almost half said they did not know how to access the test.
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