Kew care home residents with dementia shown biographical films in South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust clinical trial

Regularly showing elderly care home residents biographical films may improve the quality of life for those living with dementia, a charity believes.My Life Films, an award-winning Richmond charity, is taking part in a clinical trial to test the impact the half-hour biographical films and short introductory profiles have on residents’ lives.

Elderly people in Cecil Court care home in Kew are regularly being shown their life stories – including their favourite memories, images from family albums, and interviews with the person and family members, all set to their favourite music.
Meanwhile, residents at Homemead care home in Teddington are serving as a control group in a trial run by South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSG).
The trial runs until April 2017, with results expected to be published in the summer.Eighty per cent of UK care home residents have dementia or significant memory problems, according to the Alzheimer’s Society. Of those residents, just 41 per cent of their family members rated their quality of life as good, while more than a quarter described it as poor.
But the charity believe the films will help keep residents active and socially connected, and help carers to better connect with them and therefore provide better care.

Dr Robert Lawrence, head of the clinical research unit at SWLSG is leading the trial alongside Dr Jessica Lee, psychiatry specialty registrar at the Trust.He hypothesised that reminding residents of good memories would make them feel safer and more secure, and would help carers get to know them better.“The more you know about the person you are looking after, the better care you are going to take of that person,” he said.“It makes so much sense to patents. It makes so much sense to their families and their friends, and also to the people in care homes.”One woman at the home who was on Risperidone – a drug used to control challenging behaviour and agitation – was able to have her dosage lowered and eventually withdrawn, Dr Lee said.She said: “It’s almost like she’s transported to another world (when she is watching the films).Dr Lee added: “The feedback I got was that not only do they think it will benefit the relatives, but it will also benefit the grandchildren and the generations to come.“It’s almost like a gift to the future.”My Life Films was set up three years ago, and employs young filmmakers to get to know care home residents living with dementia and create a film based on their memories and life story.

 Last year it won both the charity start-up of the year from the Asian Voice Charity Awards an outstanding dementia care product of the year from the National Dementia Care Awards.Jorg Roth, founding trustee of My Life Films, is optimistic the Cecil Court trial will see the charity continue its success.Mr Roth said: “We obviously have to wait for the official results from the NHS trial in the summer, but from our point of view the reactions from residents, their families and the team at Cecil Court have been exceptional.“It is wonderful to see how the unique mix of personal archive material and music in the films reaches the residents living with dementia and how they improve their quality of life.”

SOURCE: Sutton Guardian, Craig Richard

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Care home responds to ruling on nurse who was struck off for forcing medication on patient

A nurse who forced an elderly dementia patient to take her medication was dismissed immediately, care home bosses say.

Susan Capewell was struck off after a health care assistant saw her using her hands and arm to prise open the patients mouth.

She was working for Care UK at The Willows Nursing Home in Cavendish Road, Beechwood, Middlesbrough, when she forced the medication on the woman, who was in her 80s .

The victim appeared ‘distressed’ and spat the medication out in the June, 2015 incident, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.

Capewell had also lied about gaining a prescribing qualification when she previously obtained a job with the Woodbridge Medical Centre, Southall.

Care UK has confirmed it investigated the incident, before sacking Capewell and reporting her to the NMC.

A spokesperson for the company said: “We pride ourselves on running homes with the highest possible standards of care and compassion. We will not tolerate poor care or dishonesty and we expect everyone who works for us to treat residents with kindness and respect.

“When this matter came to light, we investigated the matter fully, dismissed the nurse concerned and reported her to the NMC.”

A previous panel had already imposed an 18-month interim suspension order on Capewell who chose to ignore the order, and continued to work at her new job with Endeavour Practise.

She told the panel she had made mistakes, and prioritised patients.

She said: “I can only say that I’m not a bad person; I always hoped I put the best interests of the patient first.

“I am deeply sorry for my actions, which have brought these allegations against me.

“There’s not a day goes by that I don’t get upset by all that has happened and I’ve suffered bouts of depression and emotion instability since.”

SOURCE: Gazette Live, Toni Guillot

Gwynedd Parkinson's sufferer left with 'nowhere to go' after care home fall

A woman whose elderly father has “nowhere to go” after falling at a care home and ending up in hospital says she is at her wit’s end.

Sue Jones, of Talysarn in Gwynedd, received a call from the Plas Gwilym residential home in Penygroes on Sunday and was told her 83-year-old father, Arthur James Hamilton, had cut his head in a fall and was on his way to Ysbyty Gwynedd .

The 53-year-old was told her father, who has Parkinson’s disease, osteoarthritis and symptoms of dementia, could not return to the home after being discharged from hospital, as Plas Gwilym is a residential home and not a nursing home.

“They said six months ago he should be in a nursing home and not in a residential home,” said Mrs Jones.

She said Gwynedd social workers have been trying to find a suitable nursing home for her father, but he was refused by one because he was “too mobile” and by another because it was full.

Mrs Jones said she has asked for advice as to which home he should go to, but says nobody could advise her on the most suitable or supply her with a list of homes.

“I have asked for guidance,” she said.

“His disease is only going to get worse. They can’t advise me. What am I supposed to do? Something needs to be done.

“Somebody needs to be held accountable. It’s coming across as my fault because I haven’t gone looking for a home.

“I needed advice to see what I was looking for.”

Mrs Jones said the hospital now can’t discharge her father as he has nowhere to go.

“He’s got a bed blocked now at Ysbyty Gwynedd ,” she said.

“I am disgusted by the way he’s been treated. They can’t just abandon him.

“He’s got nowhere to go and I’m in limbo. I don’t know what to do. I can’t get answers.

“Everything is my fault. He’d like to go back to the home because the staff like him.”

Mrs Jones said her father became a resident at Plas Gwilym after her mum had cancer and couldn’t cope with looking after him.

Mr Hamilton, who also lived in Talysarn, is originally from Warrington and is a grandfather of two and great-grandfather of four.

A Gwynedd council spokesman said: “While the council cannot discuss the details of individual cases, when an individual’s care needs change, they must be accommodated in a suitable registered establishment.

“Plas Gwilym is a residential care home for older people and does not provide nursing care.”

SOURCE: Daily Post, Hywel Trewyn

Eight minute target for life or death ambulance calls is relaxed: Report also urges services to hire more call handlers to advise patients over the phone

The eight-minute target for ambulances to reach life-threatening emergencies is being relaxed in a trial that simply lets paramedics arrive as quickly as they can.

It means patients having heart attacks, strokes or seizures will not be guaranteed an ambulance within eight minutes.

Amid a record number of 999 calls and a severe shortage of paramedics, a report also urges ambulance services to hire more call-centre handlers to advise more patients over the phone, rather than dispatching emergency vehicles.

The eight-minute target for ambulances to reach life-threatening emergencies is being relaxed in a trial that simply lets paramedics arrive as quickly as they can.

The response time trial is under way in three of the country's ten ambulance services – South West, West Midlands and Yorkshire, which serve a total of 16million patients – and could be extended nationally. But most of the public are unaware of it and it has only been highlighted today in a report by the National Audit Office.

It was gradually introduced in the three regions last year with no announcements, fuelling concerns that the public have been deliberately kept in the dark.

The report reveals that more than 10.7million calls were made to ambulance services in 2015/16, a 30 per cent rise in four years.

On top of this, ambulance services are facing a recruitment crisis, with as many as one in ten paramedic roles vacant.

This is having a severe impact on ambulance response times, and many severely ill patients have been left waiting more than an hour for an ambulance to arrive. The most serious calls – including cardiac arrests, breathing difficulties, heart attacks or strokes – are meant to get an ambulance within eight minutes.

In the trial, this is relaxed for the slightly less critical cases – known as Red 2 – which include heart attacks, strokes and seizures. These have been reclassified as Amber cases and there is no fixed time limit – paramedics are urged to respond as quickly as they can.

All Red 1 calls are sent an ambulance in eight minutes, including cardiac arrests – in which the heart stops, or for people who are struggling to breathe.

The trial will be assessed in spring and if deemed a success, will be introduced nationally. The report warns the eight-minute target encourages 999 operators to send 'multiple' ambulances or response cars to the same emergency, just to 'stop the clock'.

Amid a record number of 999 calls and a severe shortage of paramedics, a report also urges ambulance services to hire more call-centre handlers (stock image)

Ambulance services are fined if paramedics fail to reach 75 per cent of the most serious calls within eight minutes.

On average, around a quarter of ambulances are 'stood down' before they reach the scene because another crew has already arrived.

The report says it would be better to dispatch one ambulance in 15 minutes, for example, leaving other crews free to respond to the most serious cases.

But Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said: 'How can the NHS trial this without patient knowledge? When people call an ambulance they expect it to come quickly.

'How can they downgrade a heart attack to an amber call? It's life and death.'

Only one of the ten ambulance trusts meets the response-time target of reaching 75 per cent of serious calls in eight minutes, the report shows.

It also highlights how ambulances are increasingly held up in queues outside A&E units that are too busy to accept patients.

Last year, ambulance services lost a total of 500,000 hours waiting outside A&E instead of responding to other emergencies. 

Professor Keith Willett, NHS England's Medical Director for Acute Care, said: 'The ambulance service is facing significant pressures partly because too many ambulances are dispatched to simply hit targets rather than attend to those patients most in need – with 25 per cent of dispatched blue light vehicles being stood down before they reach the scene.

'That is why we're carefully testing a change to the way in which ambulance services can respond. 

'It's an idea that has come from doctors and paramedics, giving them much more control to do the best thing for patients. 

'These trials are designed to make sure ambulances focus on the right priority – getting to the most urgent patients in the quickest possible time, and improving the service to all patients who dial 999.

'All ambulance and A&E staff are working hard to keep handover delays to a minimum, with a view to eliminating them altogether. 

'These delays have many contributory causes, and often reflect pressure on beds within the hospital as a whole and a system that is struggling to discharge patients to community settings.' 

SOURCE: Sophie Borland, Daily Mail

Fury over new nurse shift times which union claims will compromise elderly care

A NURSING union has hit out at new shift patterns which they claim will compromise the care of vulnerable dementia patients and put staff at increased risk of assaults.

The Independent Federation of Nursing is considering legal action over a change in work patterns for staff at Glasgow’s Stobhill hospital.

Nurses who care for elderly patients with advanced dementia within mental health wards at Stobhill Hospital are entitled to three half-hour breaks in a 12-hour shift.

The union said the shift pattern also entitled staff to an extra day off over a four-week period.

Shift patterns are now to be aligned with staff at the acute hospital, which will afford them two one-hour breaks.

The Independent Federation of Nursing say shorter, more frequent breaks gives dementia patients greater continuity of care as well as respite for staff from the pressures of the job.

Irenee O’Neil, general secretary of the union, said: “The implications for patient care is that there will not be the intensity of clinical interaction between staff and patients.

“Where we are dealing with patients with dementia, there needs to be a constancy.

“If people are off the ward for an hour at a time because of their fragile mental state it can confuse patients and could increase the number of assaults.”

The union believes it may have a case to pursue individual discrimination claims on the grounds that it will impact on the work life balance of staff.

A spokesman for NHSGGC said: “We have a flexible rostering policy which local ward managers implement to agree work patterns that best suit the needs of patients and staff.

“This ensures there are the right numbers and skill mix on duty, at the right time, to deliver care and ensure safe and effective services are delivered.”

SOURCE: Caroline Wilson, Greenock Telegraph

High-ranking veteran with dementia denied benefits, wife battles care

After a dementia diagnosis at age 58 six years ago, the veteran is now struggling for someone to care for him

Planning to live a comfortable life after retirement can be exciting, but those plans can change instantly at the onset of health challenges.  When it’s dementia, that can be scary for a family as life can change drastically. One wife is fighting for care for her husband who once served this country.  Now he is without any veterans benefits.

Retired Command Sergeant Major Michael Davis once said, ‘Caring for soldiers is my number one priority.’  But after a dementia diagnosis at age 58 six years ago, the veteran is now struggling for someone to care for him.

Teresa Davis and her husband Michael made plans to live out their golden years just as they sent their last son off to University of Georgia.

“Once we got our youngest son through college we were planning on picking up the investments that much more so that we could eventually retire and have a fairly comfortable existence,” she recalled.

But in 2011 it all changed for the man serving as Washington’s Chief of Police and his family.

“They had notified me that he needed to not come back to work,” Teresa said after her husband was unable to perform his duties in law enforcement well.

Doctors told Teresa her husband had dementia. And that illness was only the start of the battles the family faced.

“There were anger issues or he would lash out. Jacob was living down at UGA and he made the decision to move back home so he would be at the house to intervene,” she recalled, explaining how her husband began to target her due to his illness.

The advanced dementia forced Teresa to place Michael in round the clock care. And despite 29 years of service and a high army ranking, it wasn’t enough to extend VA benefits.

“We have been told that because he did not have any time that was documented in Vietnam that he did not qualify for care and that the degree of his disability did not meet the necessary requirements,” she said adding that her husband spent 14 of his 29 years of service at Fort McClellan where he was command sergeant major of the post.  Prior to that, he spent four years as the Command Sergeant Major of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks in Fort Leavenworth, KS.

Teresa now faces a more than $31,000 bill for her husband’s care in Sparta. She said the $6,100 a month stay has depleted what the couple once saved for their retirement.

“It hurts me to think that he was so tremendously dedicated and that’s how he was as a person. You would hope that his country would be just as dedicated and appreciate what he had done for them,” she said.

Because the family can’t afford to keep paying that high cost, Michael Davis will be forced out of that Sparta facility on February 25th, and back living at home without quality care.
Other vets and the Washington community plan to attend a BBQ fundraiser tomorrow at VFW 5899 in Washington to help.  Davis’ daughter has started a GoFundMe account to assist with the long term care of her father.

SOURCE: Renetta DuBose, wwlp.com

One in four care homes rated 'bad' or 'poor' by residents and their families

The number of care homes being rated 'bad’ or ‘poor' by families has doubled in past five years with one in four now deemed unacceptable, new figures show.

The Good Care Guide, a Tripadvisor-style website which allows relatives and residents to rate care services, has shown a serious decline since 2012.

While just one in 10 reviews reported homes as being poor or bad five years ago, the number has now soared to one in four.  The charity AgeUK said people now needed to be 'jolly lucky' to receive good care.

Families complained about inadequately trained staff who did not know how to lift patients or care for those with dementia, as well as problems with hygiene and the dispensing of medication.

People who needed care in their own homes also complained of rushed or cancelled visits, rude staff and poor timekeeping. A daughter of a woman with Alzheimer’s said that her mother had been left without food for nine hours after care workers failed to turn up.

AgeUK said elderly people had to be 'jolly lucky' to find a good care home 

“One carer actually spend a bedtime visit arguing with her boyfriend on her mobile phone rather than helping mum to bed,” she added.

One family complained there mother’s help buzzer had been placed out of reach so she could not call for help, while others said that complaints of abuse had been ignored.

One reviewer advised: “Think very carefully before putting a relative in a care home.”

Stephen Burke, director of Good Care Guide and director of United for All Ages, said: “Poor reviews for care for older people reflect the growing concerns about the funding of care and the care crisis.

“With our ageing population and more older people needing care at home, it’s critical that families can access home care services they can rely on.

“As government puts more of the responsibility onto families for providing and paying for care for older people, we expect their reviews to get even tougher about the quality of care. We must learn from what families think about care.”

More than two-fifths of reviews of home care agencies in 2016 rated them as poor or bad for quality of service and for value for money.  

Caroline Abrahams, director of AgeUK said: "There have been warnings that we were reaching a tipping point in social care and it feels like we have just gone over it.

"There are people out there who are getting good care, but you have to be jolly lucky.

"It's clear that the care system needs an emergency injection of money and the government needs to pull its finger out and recognise how bad things really are.

"Nobody wants to say 'we told you so' but this is completely what we were expecting."

The analysis of 9,000 reviews also found that standards at nurseries were declining. In 2012 88 per cent of reviews rated nurseries as good or excellent, but that dropped to 82 per cent in 2012.

The number of nurseries rated as poor or bad value for money also increased from nine per cent to 12.8 per cent last year.

“Once again families rate childcare as better than eldercare,” added Mr Burke.

“There are a lot of changes ahead for childcare in 2017. The government is extending free childcare to thirty hours a week for three and four-year-olds and introducing childcare tax breaks.

“These changes will create challenges for childcare providers and for parents. The extra government funding for childcare must be used to help more parents get into and stay in work. Feedback from families will show what difference is being made.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: "We recognise the pressures of an ageing population on our adult social care services - that's why it's pleasing that the CQC has recently rated the majority of adult social care as good or outstanding. 

"Many councils are already providing high-quality social care services and timely assessments and we will continue to challenge those that are failing to do so".

SOURCE: Telegraph, Sarah Knapton

For Caregivers, Dealing with Dementia Can Be Tough Reality

More than five million Americans were living with Alzheimer’s disease in 2016.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in three seniors will die with Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia. What those numbers mean is that, either directly or indirectly, this condition touches almost every family.

For loved ones, the reality of managing the care and financial affairs of perhaps an elderly parent or spouse with diminished mental capacity can be a nightmare, and sadly, tales of exploitation and abuse are common.

Dr. Sanford Finkel, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago Medical School, says that unusual behavior can often be an early sign that someone may be suffering from some form of mental decline or impairment. Finkel specializes in geriatric psychiatry and has often been used as an expert consultant and witness in cases of contested wills.

“I had an example of a woman who got up in a restaurant and started dancing and her husband asked her what she was doing, and she replied that there was music and she always danced when there was music,” said Finkel. “That was his first realization that something was wrong.”

For others, signs of a problem could be as simple as getting lost while driving in a familiar environment or wearing dirty clothes when they used to be meticulous about their dress.

“As time goes on the symptoms of Alzheimer’s becomes more obvious,” said Finkel, who notes that this can often cause discord among families.

“It’s very painful for a family to acknowledge that their parents are declining and are not behaving as they used to. There’s a certain amount of denial that takes place in many families and sometimes that creates tension.”

Barbara Finder leads a wealth management team for investment bank Morgan Stanley in Chicago, specializing in helping people close to and in retirement maintain financial independence.

She says that given the cost of care and the burden it often imposes upon the family, communication and planning ahead is the most important thing.

“Advance planning is just something I can’t stress enough,” said Finder. “If we can we do a cash-flow analysis and we are building into it the increased cost of healthcare. We try to encourage our clients to save so that whether it’s a healthy retirement or not they have options.”

She notes that 60 percent of family caretakers wind up using some of their own funds to cover the cost of care.

“The most common financial abuse cases that we see are caregiver abuse cases,” said Kerry Peck, managing partner at the law firm Peck Ritchey LLC who specializes in elder law and cases of financial exploitation. “The typical scenario is an older adult is left one-on-one with a 24/7 caregiver. You see a lot of women taking advantage of elderly men in what develops into being an intimate relationship.”

Peck helped rewrite the state’s Elder Abuse and Neglect Act and has also written the book “Alzheimer’s and the Law,” published by the American Bar Association.

He says that oftentimes, the caregiver encourages a vulnerable elder to sign off on things they do not comprehend.

“Whether it’s checks, trust documents or deeds, anything where one signature does it all and they are off to the races,” said Peck. “We had a case a few years ago where the caregiver hit an old guy up for $300,000 and then was on the next plane back to Eastern Europe.”

Under the state’s Elder Abuse and Neglect Act, anyone who holds a license issued by the state is mandated to report any cases of suspected elder abuse.

SOURCE: Chicago Tonight, Paul Caine

DAVID BADDIEL WARNS OF DEMENTIA 'EPIDEMIC' AS HE LAUNCHES FILM ON DISEASE IMPACT

Comedian David Baddiel has called for the "epidemic" of dementia as a killer of older people to be given more public attention.

The 52-year-old, whose father Colin is housebound and receives 24-hour care, has made a television programme exploring the impact dementia has on close family members of sufferers.

He said creating The Trouble With Dad was hard but decided there must be a wider dialogue about the disease.

Baddiel told the Radio Times: "There is no situation where it is straightforwardly OK to put someone on camera who is not totally informed about it due to dementia, as is the case here.

"But the alternative is that nobody ever talks about this, and we must. It's an epidemic - the largest killer of older people, bigger than cancer. We must bring that into the light."

His father, 82, suffers from Pick's disease - a rare type of dementia that can see sufferers become sexually disinhibited and prone to swearing and rude behaviour.

The film, set to air on Channel 4 in February, focuses on the relationship between Colin and Baddiel and his brother Ivor.

The comedian, who is probably best known for his work with Frank Skinner, said he feels "exhausted" after weekly visits with his father.

"He's hard work. Some times he's not too mad, but others he's very thankless. He can be extremely exasperating."

The father of two added: "He doesn't understand who the kids are any more. He was never a cuddly grandpa. He doesn't always know Ivor and me.

"He understands he has sons, and can recognise pictures of us from our teens, but he seems to think we should still look like that."

SOURCE: Care Appointments, Joe Nerssessian

Pioneering training for new nursing staff ‘tested’ at Trust

A PIONEERING programme that will help transform the nursing and care workforce of the future is being launched at Airedale Hospital.

Once qualified, ‘nursing associates’ will be able to support registered nurses with a range of duties, including administering medicines and care planning.

The first seven trainees have joined Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, which is one of just 11 ‘test sites’ nationally chosen to provide the initial wave of training.

The two-year programme will include a mixture of ward-based learning and academic study at Bradford University, with support from onsite clinical tutors.

Trainees will be based at the Steeton hospital’s neonatal and acute medical units and on the elderly care and stroke wards.

A number of those taking part in the project were already employed by the hospital as health care support workers and are now seeking to further their careers.

Among them is Nicole Crabtree, 28, who has worked on the children’s ward for the past eight years as a senior health care support worker and has also been a play leader in the emergency department.

“I am very excited about this new course,” she said.

“I’ve done some training every year since I came to the hospital and I have always wanted to progress and develop – so, when this came up, the timing was perfect.”

Also undertaking the training is 42-year-old Helen Coates, who has been a health care support worker at the hospital for four years.

She has a particular interest in dementia care and has also been a member of Dementia Friendly Keighley for two years.

“This training just seemed a natural progression for me and was a step up,” she said.

“I love my job but I want to move further in the role and I’m really looking forward to the studying and the academic side of the course.”

Jill Asbury, interim director of nursing at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said she was delighted to welcome the trainees to the programme.

She said the course gave them an “exciting opportunity” to progress their careers.

“It will develop their knowledge and clinical skills to support and complement their nurse-led teams,” she added.

“This is part of our future plan to continually modernise and transform our workforce to meet the needs of our patients and provide a team of staff that can offer excellent, compassionate care. As these trainees are in the first wave, we are also in a unique position to work with them to develop the programme for the future.”

Nationally, more than 1,000 nursing associates will begin training this year.

SOURCE: Wharfedale Observer, Jim Seton

TOO MANY CARE HOMES 'SIMPLY NOT COMING UP TO SCRATCH', FORMER CARE MINISTER

There are "still dark corners" among Britain's care homes that need to be investigated to restore public confidence, a former health minister has warned.

Alistair Burt joined Tory backbencher Peter Heaton-Jones (North Devon) in demanding urgent action to address standards in Britain's care homes, amid claims too many are "simply not coming up to scratch".

Among their concerns were care homes banning families who complained about their relative's treatment - a practice dubbed "completely unacceptable" by Health Minister Nicola Blackwood.

Speaking in an adjournment debate on the issue in the Commons, Mr Burt (pictured) said: "For the great work that's done in care homes, there are still dark corners, and it's those corners that a light must be shone on.

"In order to protect families, it's essential that the sort of things that have been brought out, both by my honourable friend's campaign and what we've seen in the media the past couple of days, have got to come to an end to give the public confidence."

Mr Heaton-Jones, who led the debate, told MPs there were a growing number of cases where relatives were being banned from care homes for complaining about care.

He added: "In some cases, it has been known to lead even to the eviction of the elderly person from the home.

"Private care homes are defined in law as ultimate landlords. Quite simply, they can decide who goes on the premises, or not.

"A private care home also has the power to prevent health professionals from visiting the home. Just think about that for a moment."

MPs heard that on Wednesday, ahead of this debate, the CQC published new guidance saying care homes must keep records of such incidents.

Mr Heaton-Jones also raised concern about the proportion of care homes rated as either inadequate or requiring improvement, which accounted for around 200 of the 450 most recently inspected establishments.

He also said the CQC was more than a year behind schedule with a major inspection programme, while the complaints procedure for care homes was a "bewildering labyrinth" of different organisations.

He added: "We have a growing number of cases where care homes are simply not coming up to scratch."

In reply, Ms Blackwood said a new, tougher inspection regime had been brought in and was leading to improvements in standards.

She added that the CQC had been ambitious in its original timetable for inspections, but was now on course to complete this work by March.

As for complaints, Ms Blackwood said there was a statutory requirement for care home providers to operate a complaints system, which was enforced by the CQC.

She added: "We do know that this system is not working perfectly.

"Despite the progress we're making we still hear too many stories that highlight people's real concerns about the quality and safety in social care, and we are determined to do better.

"We also hear that those receiving care or their families can be reluctant to make a complaint for fear of consequences, especially if it's about the care home where they're living.

"Indeed, only this week there was a story on the Victoria Derbyshire Show about care homes banning relatives who make a complaint about the quality of care.

"We find this completely unacceptable. It is right that people and their families should feel able to raise concerns without fear of reprisals."

SOURCE: careappointments.co.uk, The Press Association