Scottish care home operators have called on the national government to provide additional funding after “reluctantly” voting to accept a 6% fee uplift.

The call for government intervention came after months of deadlock were broken by the decision of  Scottish Care members to accept the new National Care Home Contract (NCHC) offer from local government body, COSLA.

Scottish Care said the current NCHC model was “outdated” but offered transparency while putting a cap on 4% cap on profits.

Scottish Care said current rates for residential and 24/7 nursing care of £838 for a nursing home and £719 for a residential care home were equivalent to around £5 per hour for complex care and support.

The provider body said “immense and unique challenges” facing its members had been made “significantly harder” since the Scottish government funded Agenda for Change settlement which meant workers in the NHS undertaking the same or similar role as a care home care worker were now being paid over 19% more.

In order to prevent the escalation of care home closures, which currently amount to at least one a week, the member body called on the government to fund COSLA to enable contracted care homes and homecare organisations to pay a minimum of £12 an hour to every care worker and to release resource to address the sharp financial sustainability costs around energy, food, and cost-of-living increases.

A COSLA spokesperson said:  “In March of this year, local government offered the highest ever increase to the National Care Home Contract rate, recognising the critical role of care homes and their staff in supporting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities. We are pleased that Scottish Care members have voted to accept this offer. Local government remains committed to working with those who deliver, plan and commission social care support to ensure the National Care Home Contract remains fit for purpose by providing stability for the market and supporting the sustainability of care providers within an increasingly difficult environment.”

Renaissance Care founder Robert Kilgour told Caring Times: “The simple fact is that the Scottish government really doesn’t care about our vulnerable elderly or our frontline pandemic heroes.

“I fear that many Scottish care providers are likely to close over the next 12 months because of this very disappointing outcome.

“Most Scottish care homes simply have no resources left and are currently running on fumes and are hanging on by their finger nails on the edge of the cliff of survival.”

A spokesman for Parklands Care Homes said: “We are hugely disappointed by the Scottish Government’s failure to deliver a fair deal for social care. The sector is in a state of crisis and the Scottish Government’s refusal to provide the necessary investment will only make matters worse. More homes will close and more staff will leave the sector. Ministers must intervene to save social care, before it is too late.”

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “We are pleased Scottish Care members have voted to accept the offer from COSLA to agree the National Care Home Contract. We know the sector faces challenges and are committed to working with all partners to improve social care services.

“Over the last couple of years we have increased the pay for social care workers by more than 14%. We are looking at how we can plan for, attract, train, employ and nurture the workforce, working with COSLA on consistency of improved pay and conditions, improving access to training and development and ensuring a career in social care is attractive and rewarding.

“We are also continuing to work towards our commitment to increase spend in social care by 25% by the end of this Parliament, an increase of over £840 million.”