Safety alarm as one in five homes fails

ONE in five dementia care homes is putting vulnerable residents at risk.

Some of the 1,604 failing homes are so bad they have been put in special measures by the Care Quality Commission.

Of 7,432 care homes registered in England with a dementia specialism, 129 are inadequate and 1,475 require improvement.

Some 5,298 are “good” and 274 “outstanding”.

It leaves 256 with no rating, usually because they have only been registered within the past year.

Jayne Connery, director of Care Campaign for the Vulnerable, said: “Families consistently raise concerns with us about unexplained injuries, neglect, repeated falls, poor hygiene, low staffing levels and issues with the quality of food and lack of fluids.”

She also urged the CQC to visit homes more than twice a year, saying: “We remain concerned that without daily safety monitoring, many of the ‘good’ rated homes may have significant issues that are unknown simply because inspection isn’t undertaken with sufficient frequency.”

More than a fifth of the homes specialising in dementia are failing compared with 13 per cent (one in eight) of those for those with other ailments.

Alzheimer’s Society estimates there will be a shortfall of 30,000 care home places for people with the condition by 2021.

Meanwhile, the financial strain is leaving families penniless.

Jeremy Hughes, boss of Alzheimer’s Society, demanded £8billion for social care.

He said: “Only then will people, wherever they live, be protected from catastrophic costs.”