From Tuesday, about 80 care homes in Northamptonshire will begin charging families an average of £70 a week each to look after socially-funded residents.
The Northamptonshire Association of Registered Care Homes (NorArch) says the decision has bee
n forced by Northamptonshire County Council's lack of funding for social care provision.
NorArch spokesman Glenn Hurd said: "It is with regret that, as of April 1, our members will no longer be able to accept socially-funded residents without a third-party payment from their relatives.
"This now means the good people of Northamptonshire will have to dig deep into their pockets to cover the financial mismanagement which has taken place in this county and have their loved ones properly cared for."
The county council pays a weekly subsidy of £331 for every socially-funded elderly resident in Northamptonshire, one of the lowest in the region, and has agreed to raise its funding in the next financial year by three per cent.
But Mr Hurd said this still fell "uneconomically short" of the average £400 cost of looking after care home residents in the county.
The full article contains 214 words and appears in Northampton Chron & Echo newspaper.
