Care homes and home care providers that fail to deliver on standards could be placed in special measures from next year, the Government has announced.
After hitting 11 hospitals with special measures in July last year, health secretary Jeremy Hunt today announced he would be extending the scheme to England’s 25,000 care homes and homecare services.
Hunt said the special measures scheme introduced in hospitals in the wake of the Mid Staffs scandal had ‘turned around’ failing trusts and could now ‘shine a light on poor care’.
A new inspection and ratings system will be applied to care homes from October, while from April 2015 any service found to be inadequate faces being placed into special measures. If these sites fail to improve, the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) chief inspector of adult social care, Andrea Sutcliffe, will have the power to close them down.
Care homes and homecare providers will be given a rating based on whether service users are receiving effective care that is tailored to their needs, being treated with dignity and respect and are being looked after by skilled and compassionate staff.
The CQC and the Department of Health will put together details of the new special measures scheme in the autumn, with assistance from groups including service users and care providers.
Hunt said: ‘There are thousands of care homes and homecare services providing excellent care and this new ratings system will allow people and their families to make clear choices.
‘But there are still too many care homes that I wouldn’t be happy to see my own parents or grandparents in. We have shown the special measures process works and care turn around poor-performing hospitals and we can do the same for adult social care.’
Sutcliffe added: ‘I am determined that CQC will shine a spotlight on poor care and make it clear that abuse and neglect is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Of course we want services to improve, but where standards are repeatedly falling short, we will call time on poor care.
‘The outgoing inspection system only focuses on whether homes are meeting a basic set of standards – meaning the public cannot get a detailed picture of the quality of care.’
