Plans for greater scrutiny of elderly care in England
Care Services Minister Paul Burstow: “We’re absolutely determined to shine a light on bad practice”
Plans to “radically drive up” standards of social care in England to protect the elderly have been unveiled by the government.
They include an online “good care guide” to allow family members to rate and review care homes and providers.
Committees featuring relatives of care users will also be formed to scrutinise services that do not meet standards.
Age UK “broadly welcomed” the rating suggestion but called for more funding to improve the independent regulator.
Care Services Minister Paul Burstow said the plans would help to tackle “quality and mistreatment”.
The ideas – proposed during workshops of care users and their relatives – will form plans for a new patients’ rights group, Healthwatch.
They will go on to form the basis of a white paper in the spring.
As part of the plans, ratings for care and dignity standards for residential homes and home care providers would be published online, similar to the way websites used for booking holidays do.
“Start Quote
Most important is radical and urgent reform to ensure a fair and sustainable care system for the future”
Age UK
It would include the latest information from inspections, plus any record of mistreatment or abuse by staff, as well as feedback from care users and relatives.
Under the proposals, local Healthwatch scrutiny teams would visit and speak to residents about their experiences.
However any formal inspection would still rest with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independent regulator of health and social care services in England.
Ministers hope it will provide a “more qualitative assessment” from the point of view of residents and their loved-ones of local care standards and would “empower people as never before” to choose the right care.
Healthwatch will, by law, be able to use duties placed on care homes which contain state-funded residents to let representatives into their premises for visits.
Ministers say they will look into options for allowing Healthwatch onto the premises of the minority of care homes with private-only residents.
Mr Burstow said: “Measures like publishing social care comparison sites and opening care services up to greater scrutiny will revolutionise the way people and their loved-ones choose their social care.
“It can’t be right that you can find out exactly what a hotel or restaurant is like, in just a short time searching the web, but people have so much trouble working out the standards of different care homes and home care providers – when that choice is so much more important.
He said as well as highlighting good quality care providers, “we’re intent on doing absolutely all we can to shine a light on bad treatment and raise quality for everyone”.
Age UK, the older people’s charity, said it did not want to see the proposals detract from the work the CQC already does.
“Age UK broadly welcomes the care home rating suggestion as a potentially useful addition to the existing system of care quality commission inspections and we have been calling for elements of the proposals for a while,” a spokesman said.
“But most important is radical and urgent reform to ensure a fair and sustainable care system for the future, which is why we are calling for a white paper in the spring which embraces the recommendations of the Dilnot Commission.”
The Dilnot Commission was a government-backed review into the long-term funding of care in the elderly.
It recommended that social care costs in England should be capped so people do not face losing large chunks of their assets but ruled out calling for care to be free.
The report also argued that there should be a national standard so everyone had the same access no matter where they lived.
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Re Good Care Guide Website
The interviewee on TV news this morning Sheila Scott of the National Care Homes Association is none other than the notorious Cllr. Sheila Scott OBE Cabinet Member for Childrens Services at Peterborough City Council and the Conservative Party Election Agent, Mrs Scott has collected several adverse OFSTED reports and still refuses to resign her position and has resisted called to hand back her OBE
http://parkfarmneighbourhoodwatch.blogspot.com/2011/09/ofsted-posts-massive-fail-for.htmlink:
Ofsted posts massive fail for Peterborough Childrens’ Safeguarding Services
We expect our residents to be very upset with the damaging findings of OFSTED, and accordingly we call on Cllr. Marco Cereste, Leader of the Council, to spearhead rapid wholesale change and also to facilitate the replacement of the current Cabinet Member for Childrens’ Services Cllr. Sheila Scott OBE.
Ofsted has today (6 September 2011) published a highly critical report into children’s safeguarding services at Peterborough City Council. The report shows the service to be inadequate and that immediate action is required to improve. The Ofsted report is so critical that the Director of Childrens’ Services John Richards has immediately resigned. However the cabinet member for childrens services Cllr. Sheila Scott OBE who has been the subject of adverse comments before in her role of ‘guardian’ of Peterboroughs disadvantaged and vulnerable children, has steadfastly clung onto her cabinet post and not fallen on her sword and tendered her resignation.
Our view on behalf of Peterboroughs children is why should they suffer a moment longer?
Mrs Scott with her highly demanding London role has clearly taken her eye off the ball in the City of Peterborough, and not for the first time according to a BBC Look East Television interview this evening, when the question of her resignation was raised. Clearly stung into action, PCC has secured the loan of a replacement Director for an initial 12 weeks. Cllr Scott who has less than an impressive attendance record is also the Chief Executive of what appeares to be a ‘geriatric’ care association sponsored by Boots.
This is taken from Cllr Sheila Scotts personal website:
Mrs Sheila Scott OBE
About me, my background and interests: I have lived in Peterborough for about 12 years. I am amoung the thousands of people who go to work in London everyday, where i (SIC) work for the National Care Assosciation (SIC) .
What Cllr Sheila Scott OBE does not say is that she not only works for the National Care Association (seemingly for seven days a week) in London, but also runs it full time as their Chief Executive! Clearly Mrs Scott holds herself out to being an expert in Care, but has she bitten off more than she can chew ? Her employers offer a cryptic clue…..
This is from the National Care Association website:
It’s a tough sector right now! National Care Association (Chief Executive Mrs Sheila Scott OBE) is your companion, support, information source and mentor!
As a provider of care you are responsible for the care and development of some of the most vulnerable people in the UK, and you don’t need us to tell you that! Operational managers, directors and homeowners want to ensure that as much of their time as possible is devoted to delivering and improving their services; in spite of this, so much of our time is increasingly taken up with keeping up to date with the plethora of changes in policy and regulation, training, commissioning relationships and pricing negotiations, that seem to be coming towards us at an ever increasing pace.
Peterborough City Council in a news release issued today claims it has already taken ‘swift action to put in place arrangements to recover the safeguarding service, including appointing a new director supported by a team of specialists from across the region.’
The PCC reports that sector-led support is put in place in partnership with the government and involves safeguarding experts from all over the country helping Peterborough to diagnose what needs to happen to improve the service and helping implement the required changes.
As a result of the findings of the inspection, John Richards, Director of Children’s Services has resigned from his role with immediate effect.
For an initial period of 12 weeks, Cambridgeshire County Council’s Director of Children’s Services Adrian Loades – has been seconded to Peterborough to lead the diagnosis and improvement work within the service. He will be supported by a team of ‘practising experts from across the region.’
Cabinet Member for Children’s Services Mrs Sheila Scott OBE said: “We became aware of this situation while the inspectors were still with us and I ordered immediate action from officers to address the issues without delay. The chief executive stepped in straight away and took control of the situation. We are bringing in a highly experienced team to focus on making changes and improving processes.
“We expect to be re-inspected in 18 months and I can assure you we are working to ensure these services are put right well in advance of this time.”
In addition to the requirements laid out by Ofsted, the Cabinet member for children’s services and the chief executive have ordered what they all an immediate and independent review of all cases handled by the team over the last six months.
Anyone who has concerns about the findings of the Ofsted report can call PCC on (01733) 864180
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About time 2
My husband is in Warren Park Nursing home Warren Rd Blundellsands Liverpool He was diagnosed in April 2010 with secondary bowel cancer and told he would live for maybe 6-18 months, During this time we saw many health professionals and communication was not always good. July 2011 my husbands condition worsened he now also has cancer related dementia. I could not care for him at home and he had to go into a nursing home in October 2011. The care he has recieved is excellent,he is treated with dignity and respect. The staff Matron RGNS health care assistants cook domestic staff are all bright smiling peeople who keep me updated on my husbands condition . Due to his condition he needs a lot of care and patience. the team at Warren Park are a wonderful example of how to care for people, The NHS and David Cameron could learn a lot from the staff . I cannot praise them enough,they have made our world a better place with the care they give my husband
Such a negative emphasis! Of course bad practice should be exposed and remedied but we should give equal weight to identifying, encouraging and rolling out the best practice, already to be found in some excellent institutions. A climate of fear and suspicion without a counterbalance of support, encouragement and education can only be counter-productive.
you speak about education, lots of care homes employ uneducated staff with ‘some’ trainig which is not enough because uneducated staff and uneducated management is acting in discriminative and abusive way towards non-english staff in some care homes what does not have a possitive impact on care provision, I wish Ofsted and also Quality Care Commision would allow to place cameras in domiciliary care homes to keep up the best practice and decrease suspitions on some innocent staff memebers…If you work well you won’t have anything against cameras unless you abuse others! care useres should feel more secure with cameras cos this is not abuse of privacy but support.
This is a great idea. My mother would have starved if her family had not brought in food. She was almost blind and could not walk down a long corridor to the dining room. She was shown no compassion and was told she could not have any meals brought to her room. When we moved her from this awful place, she weighed just over 6st. When she went there, she weighed 9st. Her clothes were all washed in a hot wash resulting in her cardigans ending up the size of baby clothes. This was serveral years ago but it woud have been wonderful if we had had the opportunity to read reviews from other users before we placed her in their “care”.
My son who is autistic, also suffered daily mental and on one occasion, physical abuse from uncaring and sadistic staff. Thankfully, he is now in a wonderfully caring placement where he is happy and we are happy that he is treated with kindness and dignity.
kidness and dignity is the basis of good care, it is importnant to treat care users and also staff with respect, I know a care home where staff memebers were abused by staff and also management, physical abuse towards staff members was IGNORED and person who was given caution by the police was still allowed to work with care users, that person was not even suspended, this lack of respect for victims whoever they are staff or care users is the example of total disrespoect and ignorance of management of care home in Hert’s!!! I hope your mother and son will be happy in a good place with generous and good people, I wish you all the best.
Great I use trip advisor for holidays, I use which for white goods and Top Gear for cars so why not a website for care services which are far more important for life and wellbeing just hope it includes the NHS aswell rather than just private why should they be exempt
management and staff in some care homes are discriminative and abusive towards staff members of non-engligh nationalities but they seems to be ok for Ofsted reports… i.e. bulling n physical abuse is being ignored by management and HR, one care home in Hert’s is the example of this horrible treatment of human beings… shame!!!
(Age UK, the older people’s charity, said it did not want to see the proposals detract from the work the CQC already does.)
If the CQC did its job there would not be any need for more websites,politicians should put more effort into the CQC.
My dad died in carter house care home raynes park Wimbledon he was in the dementi unit, one night he manage to get down a coded lift and get through 2 doors one that had a alarm turned off and fell out in the yard he received massive injurys ,ie broken hip,fractured shoulder , 4fractured ribs ,a head wound that was 6ins long and need meany stiches ,he was got up off the floor by a carer and made to sit on a stair till thay got a ambulance ,which should never have happen ,no one disciplined , and the home not even reprimanded by the coraner ,
I put a rating on this website for a care home i won damages against. Because the home disputed my comments my post rating was removed.
This is going to be useless, just like the CQC.