We’ll all need care at some point and being treated with dignity and respect is an essential part of that, but how do we ensure that care home residents’ personal experiences are heard?
What we did
Over the last year, we made 24 unscheduled visits to care homes in the county, to evaluate Dignity in Care across 5 categories: how people treat each other, residents’ levels of privacy, the amount of personal choice they are given, the extent to which they are encouraged to be independent, whether the care home feels like home as well as their overall quality of life.
We published individual reports for each care home and our annual report provides an overall evaluation of these.
Why?
Supporting and promoting a person’s dignity and self-respect is an essential aspect of high quality care. As care home residents receive few visitors they do not often have the chance to share their personal experiences of dignity in the care home setting.
As we are committed to listening to under-represented groups, the ultimate aim is to give residents and their carers a voice on their personal experiences of care, outside of the more formal Care Quality Commission reports.
For me, dignity in care means being treated like I am somebody
Care home resident
The report shares key findings, star ratings and an analysis of the impact of our visits. It also provides recommendations to care homes around the collective responsibility of residents living meaningful lives and asks Bucks County Council to increase networking events for carers in the county.
Individual reports are also publicly available to help people make choices about care they may need in the future.
What will we do?
We are pleased to have the support of the care community and will be working in conjunction with both the council and individual care homes to take the recommendations forward.
We will also share this report with other key stake holders and charitable organisations who will be able to help us fulfill our aims.
What can you do?
We’re always looking for feedback. You can share your experience of care homes here on the website.
