News

Elderly care crisis: Councils warned over ‘second class citizen’ treatment

Published

8 months ago

April 18, 2025

Underfunding in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire fuels hospital chaos, family hardship, and looming care home closures

VULNERABLE older people in West Wales are being forced to pay for their care—or go without it—due to a worsening funding crisis that experts say is placing them at risk and driving up NHS costs.

A growing “postcode lottery” in council funding has created stark inequalities between local authorities, with Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire among the worst hit. Care providers warn that the current situation is not only financially unsustainable but morally indefensible, as elderly people are left stranded in hospitals or charged extra just to receive basic care.

£8,500 less per patient

In Carmarthenshire, research has shown that the local authority pays around £8,500 less per year per person for nursing care than neighbouring Ceredigion. The shortfall is so severe that some care homes have begun charging families extra, or risk closure.

One care home owner, who asked not to be named, told The Herald: “It’s heartbreaking to tell a family: ‘If you can’t pay this, we’ll have to give notice.’ But we can’t make ends meet on Carmarthenshire’s fees. Meanwhile, just over the border in Ceredigion, they pay enough to cover the cost. Why are our residents treated like second class citizens?”

They added that some care homes avoid charging extra and are therefore more likely to receive referrals from the council—but may be located far from a resident’s home town, increasing isolation and hardship for families.

“The system punishes compassion. Homes are closing. And we’re losing places for our most vulnerable citizens.”

Pembrokeshire: NHS under pressure, families stretched

In Pembrokeshire, the situation is no better. While weekly rates are slightly higher than in Carmarthenshire—£908 for nursing care and £986 for EMI—they still fall far short of the actual cost of delivery.

The result? Bed-blocking at Withybush Hospital has reached critical levels.

Elderly patients medically fit for discharge are being kept in hospital, sometimes for weeks, due to a shortage of care home placements.

According to estimates, the cost of keeping an elderly patient in hospital is around £500 per day, compared to less than £200 per day in a care home—making the system not just inefficient but unsustainable.

‘12 months of instability’ ahead

One care group operating six homes in Pembrokeshire says they are facing a £150,000 annual hit due to increased National Insurance contributions and a rise in the Real Living Wage. They’ve warned of “12 months of instability”, with growing pressure on families to pay third-party top-up fees—and a risk that smaller care homes could fold altogether.

Care Forum Wales has estimated the total shortfall across the sector in Wales to be £150 million, describing the situation as an “existential threat” to elderly care.

Council and government response

Pembrokeshire County Council is already grappling with a projected £34.1 million funding gap for 2025–26, with adult social care listed as one of the most significant pressure points. Meanwhile, Carmarthenshire County Council has not issued a public statement on the care home funding disparity, despite repeated concerns from local providers.

The Welsh Government has announced a small uplift in care home fees, from £235.88 to £254.06 per week from April 2025, but providers say it’s nowhere near enough to prevent closures or redundancies.

Some initiatives—such as improved NHS discharge planning and tech-based bed tracking—are being piloted, but sector experts say they will not resolve the crisis without urgent and significant funding increases.

‘Rotten boroughs’ of care?

Mario Kreft MBE, chair of Care Forum Wales, has slammed the disparity between councils as a form of “institutional prejudice” against the private care sector, which provides the majority of services across Wales.

“It’s a race to the bottom, and elderly people are paying the price. In South West Wales, with the exception of Ceredigion, fee levels are appalling. These councils are like rotten boroughs, offering the least to the most vulnerable.”

“Wales was supposed to be built on equality. But you’d never know it when you look at how care is funded.”

He called on councils and government to rethink their approach, warning:

“Those making these decisions should consider their positions. They are causing harm to families and risking the collapse of care in their communities.”

What happens next?

If no action is taken, providers warn, more care homes will close, families will be left without support, and hospitals will continue to suffer.

“Either we fight to save our homes,” the anonymous care home owner told The Herald, “or we walk away. And then what becomes of the residents?”

The Herald has contacted Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire County Councils for comment. This article will be updated if and when responses are received.

Crime

Swansea man dies weeks after release from troubled HMP Parc: Investigation launched

Published

7 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Tom Sinclair

A SWANSEA man has died just weeks after being released from HMP Parc, the Bridgend prison now at the centre of a national crisis over inmate deaths and post-release failures.

Darren Thomas, aged 52, died on 13 November 2025 — less than a month after leaving custody. The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman (PPO) has confirmed an independent investigation into his death, which is currently listed as “in progress”.

Born on 9 April 1973, Mr Thomas had been under post-release supervision following a period at HMP/YOI Parc, the G4S-run prison that recorded seventeen deaths in custody in 2024 — the highest in the UK.

His last known legal appearance was at Swansea Crown Court in October 2024, where he stood trial accused of making a threatening phone call and two counts of criminal damage. During the hearing, reported by The Pembrokeshire Herald at the time, the court heard he made threats during a heated call on 5 October 2023.

Mr Thomas denied the allegations but was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to a custodial term, which led to his imprisonment at HMP Parc.

Parc: A prison in breakdown

HMP Parc has faced sustained criticism throughout 2024 and 2025. A damning unannounced inspection in January found:

Severe self-harm incidents up 190%
Violence against staff up 109%
Synthetic drugs “easily accessible” across wings
Overcrowding at 108% capacity

In the first three months of 2024 alone, ten men died at Parc — part of a wider cluster of twenty PPO-investigated deaths since 2022. Six occurred within three weeks, all linked to synthetic drug use.

Leaked staff messages in 2025 exposed a culture of indifference, including one officer writing: “Let’s push him to go tomorrow so we can drop him.”

Six G4S employees have been arrested since 2023 in connection with alleged assaults and misconduct.

The danger after release

Deaths shortly after release from custody are a growing national concern. Ministry of Justice data shows 620 people died while under community supervision in 2024–2025, with 62 deaths occurring within 14 days of release.

Short sentences — common at Parc — leave little time for effective rehabilitation or release planning. Homelessness, loss of drug tolerance and untreated mental-health conditions create a high-risk environment for those newly released.

The PPO investigates all such deaths to determine whether prisons or probation failed in their duties. Reports often take 6–12 months and can lead to recommendations.

A system at breaking point

The crisis at Parc reflects wider failures across UK prisons and probation. A July 2025 House of Lords report described the service as “not fit for purpose”. More than 500 people die in custody annually, with campaigners warning that private prisons such as Parc prioritise cost-cutting over care.

The PPO investigation into the death of Darren Thomas continues.

Crime

Woman stabbed partner in Haverfordwest before handing herself in

Published

7 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Court Reporter

A WOMAN who stabbed her partner during a drug-fuelled episode walked straight into Haverfordwest Police Station and told officers what she had done, Swansea Crown Court has heard.

Amy Woolston, 22, of Dartmouth Street in Milford Haven, arrived at the station at around 8:00pm on June 13 and said: “I stabbed my ex-partner earlier… he’s alright and he let me walk off,” prosecutor Tom Scapens told the court.

The pair had taken acid together earlier in the day, and Woolston claimed she believed she could feel “stab marks in her back” before the incident.

Police find victim with four wounds

Officers went to the victim’s home to check on him. He was not there at first, but returned shortly afterwards. He appeared sober and told police: “Just a couple of things,” before pointing to injuries on his back.

He had three stab or puncture wounds to his back and another to his bicep.

The victim said that when he arrived home from the shop, Woolston was acting “a bit shifty”. After asking if she was alright, she grabbed something from the windowsill — described as either a knife or a shard of glass — and stabbed him.

He told officers he had “had worse from her before”, did not support a prosecution, and refused to go to hospital.

Defendant has long history of violence

Woolston pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding. The court heard she had amassed 20 previous convictions from 10 court appearances, including assaults, battery, and offences against emergency workers.

Defending, Dyfed Thomas said Woolston had longstanding mental health problems and had been off medication prescribed for paranoid schizophrenia at the time.
“She’s had a difficult upbringing,” he added, saying she was remorseful and now compliant with treatment.

Woolston was jailed for 12 months, but the court heard she has already served the equivalent time on remand and will be released imminently on a 12-month licence.

News

BBC apologises to Herald’s editor for inaccurate story

Published

9 hours ago

December 4, 2025

Staff Writer

THE BBC has issued a formal apology and amended a six-year-old article written by BBC Wales Business Correspondent Huw Thomas after its Executive Complaints Unit ruled that the original headline and wording gave an “incorrect impression” that Herald editor Tom Sinclair was personally liable for tens of thousands of pounds in debt.

The 2019 report, originally headlined “Herald newspaper editor Tom Sinclair has £70,000 debts”, has now been changed.

The ECU found: “The wording of the article and its headline could have led readers to form the incorrect impression that the debt was Mr Sinclair’s personal responsibility… In that respect the article failed to meet the BBC’s standards of due accuracy.”

Mr Sinclair said: “I’m grateful to the ECU for the apology and for correcting the personal-liability impression that caused real harm for six years. However, the article still links the debts to ‘the group which publishes The Herald’ when in fact they related to printing companies that were dissolved two years before the Herald was founded in 2013. I have asked the BBC to add that final clarification so the record is completely accurate.”

A formal apology and correction of this kind from the BBC is extremely rare, especially for a story more than six years old.