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
Care home legislation
- Thread starter BLONDY
- Start date
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
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.
Yes they are inspected by QCC but staff needn't have certified qualifications.
I may have that wrong.
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
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
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)
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
W
Good point but being registered with the CQC does not mean anyone has to be qualified in any way. You can own as many care homes as you like. Say you own 30 care homes and in a few of these homes people are being abused neglected and assaulted by untrained unqualified staff would it be right that you can continue to own 30 homes. If the owners were to lose their licence for all their homes due to malpractice they would have a vested interest in the quality of staff.
Another good point the manager is qualified to give medicines how many homes are there where the manager is on site 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. Medication is not always given by someone who is qualified. CQC how many homes have not even been inspected by them. Licencing would change the quality and quantity of professional staff
Kind Regards
Blondy
Thank you I am trying to make a difference I have witnessed abuse neglect and assault if legislation were brought in it would make a difference. Due to the low wages offered by some homes they use agencies for staff cover these are inexperienced and untrained not even understanding that you do not hand a room full of Dementia Alzheimer patients boiling hot cups of tea and expect the residents to sit nicely and hold them. I ran around the room that day placing the cups on tables nearby whilst gently explaining to the agency member that was not a very good idea.
Kind Regards
Blondy
I think that as well the staff have to be qualified nurses or at least a good ratio of them perhaps someone could enlighten us. My petition is for care home legislation.
Kind Regards
Blondy
Thank you this is what I am trying to stop the money making machine the one vested interest by the owners. Say someone is looking to place a loved one in a care home they may look at the CQC how many look at who owns the home, how many would get a nasty shock when they find out the owner is actually being investigated by the CQC and the reasons why. So for anyone viewing this try click on the owner look at all the other homes.
Kind Regards
Blondy
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!
Kind Regards
Blondy
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
Thank you so many aspects of care need addressing too many blind eyes turned
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Sent from my LC0901D using Talking Point mobile app
Blondy,
Many thanks, but having a little experience of designing organisations and skill sets I'm afraid I disagree a little with this - you need both quantity and quality. If (for example) you have 40 residents on a wing and 4 of them need assistance with toilet matters at the same time (not unusual) then you need 4 x care workers to give assistance plus a minimum of 2 others to keep an eye on the remainder. And it doesn't matter how good given individuals are if there aren't enough of them.
I agree you need a threshold but all too often homes have to work with whoever applies. Quality is also a little more difficult to measure - proposals for registration and regulation of care workers/HCAs are already in hand but whether these will apply to all jobs in care homes is unclear - I would have thought not. At one time in post-war West Germany working in nursing homes was an alternative to military service, but I'm not clear if it produced any better quality in the labour force.
The issue about quality of individual applying is related a range of factors but ultimately rational economic entities (people) will pursue the best balance between work and pay of which they are capable. Very few will choose care work if there is easier work for the same money and some aspects (e.g. 12 hour shifts) aren't at all popular. More and better pay might help a little to attract better quality candidates, but probably not all that much. In my mother's nursing home in an area of high long term unemployment the staff were probably better than the national average.
W
