How can we ensure that there is proper regulation of what goes on in private care homes? This is an issue very close to my heart. I personally have no experience of relatives in private care home settings. My Ken is in a local authority home and when I did have a very serious complaint, I can say with my hand on my heart, that it was properly dealt with in every respect. I didn't entirely agree with the findings of the enquiry but can say that the complaint was dealt with in a fair and transparent manner.
I have been a member of my local LINKs organisation, members working in a purely voluntary capacity which tries to voice the needs of local people in relation to all health and social care issues. Part of the duties of this organisation is to inspect local care homes and send a report to both the local authority and the CQC.
Without any help from either the CQC or the Local Authority, we volunteers had to train ourselves for inspection of care homes. This took many months as each and every member of the volunteer inspection team visited a local care home to observe and understand what professional caring within a care home situation entails prior to the official inspection duty. This was all arranged and carried out as I say by local members of the public.
The volunteer team officially visited a care home at the end of last year. The particlular care home inspected had been chosen because we had good knowledge that the care home had areas which had caused some concern within the local community.
The report we complied was sent to the two authorities, CQC and Local Authority being the two bodies to whom we had to report our findings. We had used the CQC guidlines of 'Essential Standards' to both inspect and compile our report. There were some serious areas of concern which were highlighted in this report.
We were then informed by the CQC that our report, so painstakingly complied and involving months of preparatory work, would be filed and if there were three independant complaints made in the next year or so, then the CQC would inspect this care home. So our report was to be put 'on file'. The Local Authority promised us they would pass on our report to their commissioning authority but we were given no idea of how they would use the report.
What little feedback we did have from the CQC was very negative and despite our asking them, they refused to come and discuss anything with us. So much for local involvement with local people! I have now personally given up trying to make a difference. In future I will, as most people seem to do, concentrate just on me and mine. I see little use in doing anything otherwise from my own experience of trying to make a difference. I see little evidence that official bodies, including the current government, take any local voluntary work into any of their policy making. Are local voluntary groups just being 'used and abused' I wonder?
Local involvement, which should be the cornerstone of improving care for local people is a vital resource, one which seems to be scantly reguarded.
I wonder what effect the Alzhimer Society has on the quality of care or indeed the national monitoring of care within a care home setting? Or is this not within the Alzheimer Society remit? I wonder why we continually, year after year get TV documentaries, or radio programmes or news bulletins, highlighting the latest deplorable, heartbreaking scandle within social care?
The CQC is not a reliable monitoring body and Local Authority monitoring seems to also fail. Now the Alzheimer Society have reformed and no longer have active local volunteeers, is there anywhere either within any charity organisations, or within public bodies where there is any proper monitoring taking place any more?
TinaT
I have been a member of my local LINKs organisation, members working in a purely voluntary capacity which tries to voice the needs of local people in relation to all health and social care issues. Part of the duties of this organisation is to inspect local care homes and send a report to both the local authority and the CQC.
Without any help from either the CQC or the Local Authority, we volunteers had to train ourselves for inspection of care homes. This took many months as each and every member of the volunteer inspection team visited a local care home to observe and understand what professional caring within a care home situation entails prior to the official inspection duty. This was all arranged and carried out as I say by local members of the public.
The volunteer team officially visited a care home at the end of last year. The particlular care home inspected had been chosen because we had good knowledge that the care home had areas which had caused some concern within the local community.
The report we complied was sent to the two authorities, CQC and Local Authority being the two bodies to whom we had to report our findings. We had used the CQC guidlines of 'Essential Standards' to both inspect and compile our report. There were some serious areas of concern which were highlighted in this report.
We were then informed by the CQC that our report, so painstakingly complied and involving months of preparatory work, would be filed and if there were three independant complaints made in the next year or so, then the CQC would inspect this care home. So our report was to be put 'on file'. The Local Authority promised us they would pass on our report to their commissioning authority but we were given no idea of how they would use the report.
What little feedback we did have from the CQC was very negative and despite our asking them, they refused to come and discuss anything with us. So much for local involvement with local people! I have now personally given up trying to make a difference. In future I will, as most people seem to do, concentrate just on me and mine. I see little use in doing anything otherwise from my own experience of trying to make a difference. I see little evidence that official bodies, including the current government, take any local voluntary work into any of their policy making. Are local voluntary groups just being 'used and abused' I wonder?
Local involvement, which should be the cornerstone of improving care for local people is a vital resource, one which seems to be scantly reguarded.
I wonder what effect the Alzhimer Society has on the quality of care or indeed the national monitoring of care within a care home setting? Or is this not within the Alzheimer Society remit? I wonder why we continually, year after year get TV documentaries, or radio programmes or news bulletins, highlighting the latest deplorable, heartbreaking scandle within social care?
The CQC is not a reliable monitoring body and Local Authority monitoring seems to also fail. Now the Alzheimer Society have reformed and no longer have active local volunteeers, is there anywhere either within any charity organisations, or within public bodies where there is any proper monitoring taking place any more?
TinaT
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