Councils are putting the elderly and disabled ‘up for auction’ on eBay-style websites where care homes bid against each other to offer them a bed. More than a dozen local authorities are listing vulnerable people’s details including their age and what care and medication they need. Care homes in the area are then invited to bid to offer the elderly person a home. Often, the cheapest offer wins. The bidding is sometimes open for only a few hours but at other times it can last for two or three days. It means the patient or their family often do not see the care home, and that those running the home do not see the patient before they arrive. One critic likened the system to ‘auctioning your granny’ and said it was like a ‘cattle market’. Others complained that computers are only interested in costs and should not be making sensitive decisions about an elderly resident’s final years.