The ‘frightening’
extent of the crisis in the elderly care system was laid bare last night.
A shocking report
reveals that inspectors are called in to deal with four complaints every day.
The Care Quality
Commission launched 1,512 enforcement actions against care homes and home helps
in 2016/17 – 68 per cent up on the previous 12 months.
The watchdog dealt
with complaints about unsafe care, residents not being treated with dignity and
poor staffing levels. Other issues included lack of food or water and ‘abuse
and improper treatment’.
+4
The Care Quality
Commission launched 1,512 enforcement actions against care homes and home helps
in 2016/17 (file image)
In its report the
commission said:
Fifty care firms were fined and four were taken to court;
More than 100 operators were struck off the register – forcing them to
close down;
Dozens were warned to improve or face the prospect of being
stripped of their licence;
Hundreds of enforcement actions were taken against hospitals, clinics
and GP surgeries.
The revelations will
increase calls for extra cash to prop up England’s care system. Last year
ministers took urgent action to allow town halls to raise council tax to avert
a meltdown.
A Mail investigation
found the system was in such crisis that four in ten care homes fail
inspections. Of the 5,300 sites the CQC has reported on this year, around 2,000
were found to be inadequate or in need of improvement.
Caroline Abrahams of
the charity Age UK said: ‘Our social care system is struggling to cope and
older people desperately need the Government to follow through on its
commitment to develop proposals for strengthening it.
‘These statistics are
frightening for older people and their loved ones because they show that good
quality, affordable care is far from guaranteed.
·
‘In a civilised society we ought to be able to
take it for granted that if we come to need this support it will be there for
us, no ifs, no buts.’
Anyone with savings
must meet the full cost of their care home place. The Tories have failed to
honour a 2015 manifesto promise to cap the maximum bill at £75,000 and during
the last election campaign Theresa May indicated the pledge could be scrapped.
The CQC report
reveals that, for all the money that families pay out, loved ones often receive
substandard and, in some cases unsafe, service.
It said the sharp
increases in complaints were partly due to improved enforcement procedures. But
it could also indicate that severe problems had gone under the radar.
Andrea Sutcliffe, the
CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care, said most providers were offering
high quality care. But she added: ‘There is still too much poor care, some
providers are failing to improve, and we are seeing some services deteriorate.
+4
The CQC also took
action 135 times in hospitals – up from 58 the year before (file image)
‘Undoubtedly there
are pressures on adult social care services, but it is not acceptable for
people in vulnerable situations to bear the brunt of poor care.
‘We will continue to
use our enforcement powers in people’s best interests and take action where
necessary.’
Regulators prosecuted
four care providers, including one nursing home where a 62-year-old man had
broken his neck in a fall from a shower chair.
The CQC’s annual
report said the number of enforcement actions taken in 2016/17 across all
health and social care settings was 1,910 – up 75 per cent on the previous
year.
In 2016/17, there
were 263 interventions in the primary care sector – double the previous year.
This includes GP
practices, dentists and NHS 111. The CQC also took action 135 times in
hospitals – up from 58 the year before.
Some of the interventions
were made following routine inspections; others followed complaints.
The watchdog’s annual
report was published in July just before Parliament went on its summer recess –
but had gone unreported until now.SOURCE: MailOnline, Daniel Martin
No comments:
Post a Comment