A BODY representing almost 500 independent social care providers has called a council's decision to base care home fees on paying half the staff the minimum wage a “kick in the teeth for frontline coronavirus. heroes".

Care Forum Wales has slammed Flintshire Council for condemning staff in privately-run care homes to the minimum wage while paying carers in council-run homes nearly £2,500 a year more.

In Wales, pay rates for carers are effectively determined by local councils who set the level of fees care homes and domiciliary care companies receive.

Flintshire, along with many other authorities and health boards, use a formula which calculates how much they want to allocate towards all care home costs, including what staff are paid.

As a result, say Care Forum Wales, wage levels have been unfairly suppressed by the local authorities who have managed the budgets for 25 years.

Meanwhile, carers working in in council-owned homes in Flintshire are paid considerably more even if they have no experience or qualifications.

Last year, an investigation by Care Forum Wales revealed Flintshire Council was in the bottom five worst paying councils in Wales when it comes to paying care home fees.

It prompted the organisation to launch a campaign to ensure qualified staff who work in care homes and domiciliary care in Wales are paid a minimum of £20,000 a year.

Care Forum Wales chair Mario Kreft said: “Twenty or so years ago Flintshire’s rates were among the highest in Wales but they have slid steadily down the league table of shame and are now in the relegation zone.

“It’s part of the increasing North/South divide in Wales with five of the bottom 10 payers being North Wales councils while the highest rates are to be found in South East Wales.

“When they were calculating the fees for the coming year, Flintshire split the staff up so that half the staff are paid the national living wage which is currently £8.72 an hour going up to £8.91 next, while the other half are on a slightly higher rate of £10.21.

“Flintshire’s approach also flies in the face of the recently published Welsh Government White Paper, Rebalancing Care and Support, which says action is needed in ‘refocusing the fundamentals of the care market – away from price towards quality and value’.

“To put things into perspective the UK Government are charging returnees £175 a night to quarantine in hotels – which clearly does not include the cost of care.

“That works out at £1,225 a week which is nearly double the fee for the most acute level of need in Flintshire for people needing EMI nursing care.

“This is an unforgiveable insult to all the heroic people who have been on the front line throughout the coronavirus. It’s nothing less than shocking.

“Instead of clapping for carers Flintshire Council they are kicking them in the teeth and condemning them to live on low wages which is an absolute scandal.

“They should be treated as national treasures for showing tremendous courage as well as skill and dedication in the face of this frightening disease during a global pandemic. They deserve so much better.

“And then to add insult to injury they pay their own employees working in care homes at a much higher rate."

In response, Flintshire Council has defended its support for care homes in the county during the pandemic.

Neil Ayling, Chief Officer for Social Services said: "Flintshire County Council, alongside the five other north Wales local authorities, continues to work in partnership with care providers and Care Forum Wales to ensure the care fees reflect the cost of care whilst remaining within the Council’s budget.

“As a county council we have provided intensive support to local care homes throughout the pandemic. We speak to care homes and other care providers daily, and respond with the help they need. We have provided staff to support care homes to help with staff shortages and have used our share of the £40 million Hardship Fund of Welsh Government to assist care home providers with a 10% uplift in care home fees, and with financial compensation for the costs of empty bed-spaces which homes have not been allowed to use due to the restrictions on home admissions.

“We have provided and distributed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the local care home and provider network and this has been well-received across the network. Our PPE store and distribution system is regarded as best practice nationally.

“We agree with the Care Forum that social care funding in Wales and across the UK needs to be greatly increased and be sustained into the future. Flintshire is a highly regarded provider of care services and this is recognised by Care Inspectorate Wales. We are also a direct provider of three homes, ones that are highly regarded and much in demand.”

Recently, Labour’s, Angela Rayner MP, who was a home care worker and represented social care workers as a shop steward and trade union official before becoming an MP, called for an increase in pay for care workers to at least £10 an hour. She said poverty wages in the care sector are not just “morally wrong” but also “holding back our economy”.

Mr Kreft added: “This is the time for social care to be put on a pedestal alongside the NHS because they are symbiotic – they cannot work without each other.

“People working in social care need to be rewarded like a proper profession instead of being treated like Oliver Twist asking for more gruel.”