Government extends special measures to care homes

A system of special measures designed to improve failing hospitals in England is to be extended to care homes, the government has announced. The Care Quality Commission will work together with the Adult Social Care sector to put together a new regime that will tackle failing care through special measures from April 2015.

The process was introduced by the CQC a year ago to 11 failing trusts. The ratings, based on a system first used in schools, give health and care services a rating of outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate. Most hospital trusts have since made progress, although only five have been or are being taken out of special measures.

Andrea Sutcliffe, the Care Quality Commission’s Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said: “In people’s homes and care homes across the country, we know that dedicated staff are delivering fantastic care for people. Sadly, this is not always the case and we know that some services are continuing to fail the people they serve.

“I am clear that abuse, neglect and poor care will not be tolerated. We need to shine a spotlight on this poor practice and make sure that services improve. If they do not, they will have to face the consequences.

“I welcome the opportunity to work with service providers, commissioners and most importantly people using services, their carers and families to develop a special measures regime which will call time on poor care.

“Our new ratings regime will start in October and will highlight inadequate services.  This will be an unambiguous signal that improvements are needed and we will set out clear expectations, including the timescale to sort out problems and where to go for help.

“People’s confidence in adult social care services has been knocked by shocking examples of poor care. I want to restore confidence by celebrating the good work we do see while also tackling persistent poor performance.

“Together, we can make sure these services are the best they can be for the benefit of everyone who needs them.”
The details of the regime for care homes are still being worked out, but is likely to involve less external support and instead rely on shorter deadlines to shock the providers into action.