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Quality of care homes comes under scrutiny
SURPRISE VISITS ... Coun Emma Lewell-Buck says care of the elderly is taken very seriously.
SURPRISE visits are to be paid to South Tyneside’s 26 privately-run old folks residential care homes as part of a bid to improve care for the elderly, it has emerged.
An in-house council team will make twice-yearly inspections at every complex after plans were revealed to pay care providers on a performance-related basis.
And one of those visits will be unannounced, Coun Emma Lewell-Buck told members of the council’s decision-making cabinet this week.
It’s all part of moves to place quality of care at the heart of residential and nursing care in the borough.
Inspectors will be looking at how the service meets the needs of residents, the quality of life within the home, health and wellbeing standards and if the food provided meets nutritional standards.
The findings will be used – alongside annual reports by inspectors from the Care Quality Commission – to put homes in a quality band from a top rating of one to a lowest rank of four.
Those rating results will then be placed on South Tyneside Council’s website for all to see.
It means anyone considering entering residential care will be ‘better informed’ on the choices available to them.
In the past, care providers have been rated and paid according to the quality of buildings – not the care available.
Now, the council aims to put good quality care provision at the heart of the process.
Care providers will have the incentive of extra payment for ensuring residents have access to top-quality services.
Coun Lewell-Buck, the cabinet’s lead member for adults, health and wellbeing, said: “This is sending out a clear message over how seriously we take the care of the elderly.
“There will be two visits a year by the contracts team, one of which will be unannounced.
“These changes will enable people to make more informed choices.”
The new system is to be launched next month.
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Comments
There are 18 comments to this article
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wasthatthatguy
Monday, February 6, 2012 at 12:31 AMyourview :- Criticising the Council or its Councillors using one's real name definitely isn't a good idea, because their social workers have got a lot of power available for abuse.
myviewonlyandonlymine
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 11:17 PMChartist, I wouldn't bother this man clearly holds a grudge against social workers (who in my opinion do a hell of a job dealing with idiots like him) and councillors who also do a very difficult job but get nothing but critisism aimed at them from idiots like wasthatthatguy who are happy to complain whilst hiding behind the safety of a computer screen, cowards.
myviewonlyandonlymine
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 11:12 PMwasthattha.....holding a grudge for a reason? Maybe you've had the child protection team come knocking at your door, what did you get up to?
wasthatthatguy
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 10:26 PMWell, social workers will be able to understand the grading system, because they are used to things upside down and or back to front, eg that person is (likely to be) guilty until (unlikely to be) proven innocent.
East Boldon Lad
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 07:58 PMSee my previous comment; in league tables 1 rates higher than 4. I am more interested in the qualifications and training of the inspectors and their inspection criteria than this fatuous excuse for using this easily comprehensible grading scheme with no stars as a stick with which to beat social workers as a profession; no wonder they are "wacky" if they deal with obsessive fixateds day in and day out...
wasthatthatguy
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 06:41 PMFive star hotels are better than one star hotels. In the recent restaurant gradings, five is better than one. Only in the wacky world of social workers could care homes with a grading of one be better than care homes with a grading of four.
East Boldon Lad
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 06:32 PMPrecisely, provided that the grading system is clearly explained, what is the issue? Regrettably, no matter how much the private sector is "talked up" by neo or proto Thatcherites, unless its activities, services and goods are subject to inspection and regulation by the public sector, certain suppliers and providers will sell their consumers short and cut corners, sometimes with devastatingly damaging outcomes.
myviewonlyandonlymine
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 06:24 PMIf you read the full report correctly you will understand the grading system, if you still can't understand it, you could always ask a grown up to help you.
sanddancer
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 04:17 PMWTG, as usual im struggling to see your point. 1 to 4 or 4 to 1? Grading systems work in many ways, I was lucky enough to get a few grade 1s in exams many years ago. Maybe if I had tried harder I could have got a 4! You seem to dispise the public sector because you have to pay for it. The private sector is not a charity!
wasthatthatguy
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 02:40 PMWell, one thing's for sure. He's be put in a four star care home. Which, apparently, is a lot worse than a one star care home.
myviewonlyandonlymine
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 12:50 PMHe sounds very simple and child minded, someone out there with a personal grudge who is happy to say anything as long as he's hiding behind the safety of a computer screen, typical of someone who has had the child protection team in to make enquiries? What did he do?
myviewonlyandonlymine
Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 12:46 PMWasthattha...I think has a grudge, most likely had child protection involved, one wonders what for?
wasthatthatguy
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 08:26 PMIs the following from the article actually correct? - "The findings will be used .... to put homes in a quality band from a top rating of one to a lowest rank of four." - So, homes scoring one are better than homes scoring four! Well done social workers. Your usual upside down reasoning.
myviewonlyandonlymine
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 09:14 PMIf brain cells were phosphorous you wouldn't have to start a small fire. Isn't this a good thing? Some people are never happy unless they're complaining, some very simple people, who are happy to expend their energy knocking those who try to do good but would never get up off their backsides to do anything positive.
wasthatthatguy
Friday, February 3, 2012 at 07:56 PMYup, that would also be at our expense.
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