As part of our Dignity in Care project, we have produced a quarterly summary report of recent Care Homes visits giving a full list of our recommendations along with the latest response from that Care Home.
In the April 2020 report we cover the following Care Homes:
- Carey Lodge
- Ryeview Manor
Good job Healthwatch Bucks for carrying on with your Dignity in Care project with local Care Homes.
How disappointing it is to hear that the CQC who’s purpose is to safeguard adults in receipt of care from registered services have suspended all routine inspections of care homes. Who is now going to inspect care homes to make sure they are safe and running as they should be? The CQC Inspectors can obtain PPE just as the care staff have to. They are failing in their duty !
The UK’s lockdown has now spanned across four months.
The emotional toll of months of separation has been immense for people in Care Homes. As restrictions are lifted across England, this has given people living in care and their families a glimmer of hope that soon they will be able to visit their loved ones in Care and Nursing Homes. We need a strategy for unlocking as a matter of urgency.
What care homes should be doing next in this current climate is keep relatives informed as to what is going on. The majority of care homes and nursing homes are now shut to relatives which is understandable. Nevertheless from what I hear many relatives are being kept in the dark as to what happening in these homes. Older people in care face isolation as usual support networks are cut off to prevent the spread of the virus. Guidance on visiting care homes in England has not been updated since April. When will this happen? What is the strategy for unlocking care homes? Urgent action is needed to protect people’s human rights.
Most people are astonished to learn there is no requirement for a care worker to have any qualification at all before being put in charge of vulnerable elderly people in a care home. Even the previous provision of an NVQ in care studies has now been withdrawn, and is not in any case a mandatory requirement for a care job. Again many people would be surprised to learn that it is open to anyone, even without any previous experience, to set up a care home and there is no requirement or even probability that there will be any inspection of their premises by CQC, the regulator, before they open the doors and start taking in vulnerable older people, or for anything up to two years thereafter.