Please can you help I have started a petition to licence Care Homes you can view my petition here http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/jeremy-hunt-mp-health-minister-licence-care-homes
I would suggest that a better petition is one which states a minimum number of staff for able bodied residents and a minimum number of staff for residents severely disabled.
xxTinaT
All care homes have to be registered with the Care Quality Commission and state a registered manager so in that way they are already licensed. I'm not sure in what other ways your petition calls for licencing?
xxTinaT
The manager of a care home is usually a qualified nurse or has passed level 3/4 NVQ qualifications which enable the giving of medications. They are also responsible for ensuring that their staff have basic qualifications and have attended courses of training on such things as moving and handling, dignity in care, infectious diseases etc., etc.,
All of these qualifications are checked that they are up to date on all CQC inspections.
I would suggest that a better petition is one which states a minimum number of staff for able bodied residents and a minimum number of staff for residents severely disabled.
xxTinaT
The way I read it the petition asks that all CH should be operated by qualified/certified managers and staff, which unfortunately isn't the case at the moment as far as I know.
Yes they are inspected by QCC but staff needn't have certified qualifications.
I may have that wrong.
I think the manager in a nursing home has to be a qualified nurse.
I read the petition as all OWNERS should be licensed. The staff at my OH's CH are lovely and dedicated. The owners are not so. They are only kept in check by a very long serving and strong manager. Once the manager retires the owners will probably step in and things will change for the worse. The owners want a money making machine (IMO)
Thank you sometimes there is no one with the Alzheimer's Dementia residents as their are not enough staff. How many of the staff are qualified to actually help the residents how many turn a blind eye to malpractice, neglect, bad hygiene just to keep their job.OH YES!
Legislation recommends a minimum number of staff - but the degree of care needed for individuals is not taken into account
And there is a massive problem in a lot of homes, where staff on duty are taken off the floor either to accompany residents on appointments, to attend funerals and to attend the mandatory training courses (because otherwise, staff have to be paid to either cover, or attend courses on their time off) - paperwork says enough staff on duty to meet requirements, in reality, the 'floor' can be up to 3 staff short ! This desperately needs tightening up in law!
And how would such minimum number be enforced? There are very few areas of life where this is required. (Examples that spring to mind are Pit Deputies in mining, and Nuclear Engineers in nuclear power stations etc, but the "minimum numbers" requirement is for a small number of suitably qualified individuals. If you lay down a requirement of a ration of (say) 1 care worker on duty for every 4 residents, what happens if this is breached? How will it be monitored? Imposing a financial penalty is all very well, but doesn't ensure the care is provided. And imposing summary closure helps no-one. If the staff can't be recruited, or leave, and agencies can't supply temps, what happens? In a hospital it can and does happen occasionally - and wards have to be closed temporarily, but nursing homes seldom have that option. I'd love to see better ratios (in my late mum's NH it was around 6:1 at best and at times 8:1), but sadly, I'm not sure this is the answer. The best method I can think of is making specific staffing ratios a contract condition for any public placement, as this is a well-understood mechanism.
W
Please can you help I have started a petition to licence Care Homes you can view my petition here http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/jeremy-hunt-mp-health-minister-licence-care-homes
It is not the quantity but the quality that matters, a senior staff member at my mothers care home informed me that many members of the staff could not even get a job stacking shelves in a supermarket and this was a last resort job. No offence intended for anybody stacking shelves working hours that suit them etc. Another senior staff member informed me if my mother were in a prison she would be given a far better diet.
Kind Regards
Blondy