4 IN 10 CARE HOMES ARE NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE
SOCIAL care is in such crisis that four in ten homes fail inspections. Watchdogs have reported on 5,300 care homes this year and 2,000 were found inadequate or in need of improvement.
It means 70,000 vulnerable residents and patients are at risk.
Inspectors found elderly who were left filthy and starving. Others were locked in their bedrooms with no natural light. Many were given the wrong medication. Despite the litany of failings, the Care Quality Commission has successfully prosecuted just five homes over the past two years. The Daily Mail’s audit of reports published by the watchdog reveals that:
38 per cent of care homes failed inspections this year;
More than half of those run by big firms including Bupa were said to be failing;
At least 9,000 vulnerable people are in homes that do not meet basic safety standards;
Police investigated an incident where an elderly resident allegedly choked to death and another where
a resident was left alone while having a seizure.
responding to the findings, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said last night: ‘Any instance of care falling short is one too many. We expect significant improvements where care is below expectations.’
Since October 2014, the CQC has inspected adult social care services using an Ofsted-style system. Homes are rated as outstanding, good, requiring improvement or inadequate.
Of 5,361 reports published this year, 38 per cent received the worst two ratings. Just 86 homes were outstanding. Another 262 were rated inadequate – leaving 9,000 residents with no guarantee of being protected from harm.
The Mail’s findings suggest the crisis in care homes is far more severe than previously thought. Last month the CQC published a major report, which suggested that out of 14,900 care homes 22.5 per cent were failing. However, the figures related to reports since October 2014 – rather than being broken down by year.
The Mail’s findings suggest particular concerns with major private providers. Four Seasons Health Care, which houses 20,000 mostly elderly residents in 265 homes, promises that residents will be treated with ‘courtesy and dignity’.
But out of 107 reports into its homes published this year, 54 were rated as fail- ing. Bupa Care Services – the second largest private provider with 244 homes – says it has a ‘person-centred approach’. yet 45 of 90 of its homes reported on this year were found to be inadequate or requiring improvement.
The failure rate at HC-ONE, which has 230 homes, was 55 per cent.
dr Hilda Hayo of the charity dementia UK said: ‘The news that so many care homes are failing in their duty to provide good quality care is disturbing.’
Four Seasons Health Care said if the previous year’s figures were included, 64 per cent of its homes were rated as good. A spokesman rejected the idea that the CQC verdict of ‘requires improvement’ meant a home was failing.
A Bupa spokesman said the reports published this year did not reflect the company’s overall performance.
Joan Elliott of Bupa Care Services said: ‘We’re proud of the care our staff provide and that the CQC has rated the majority of our homes as good or outstanding.’
An HC-ONE spokesman said: ‘We have worked hard with our teams, from turnaround to transformation, to improve care standards and quality of life for residents.’ Andrea Sutcliffe of the CQC said: ‘While the majority of services are good and we are seeing improvements, we have made it clear that there is too much poor care. This has got to change.’
On Saturday, Theresa May’s former joint chief of staff said she must urgently reform social care to avoid defeat to Labour at the next election. Nick Timothy urged the Prime Minister to set up a royal commission.
LONG highlighted by our Dignity for the elderly campaign, the appalling treatment of residents in many care homes is perhaps the most shaming social phenomenon of our age. Today the Mail reveals the crisis is rapidly becoming worse.
Last month, the Care Quality Commission suggested 22.5 per cent of the country’s 14,900 homes were inadequate or in need of improvement. But this figure – shocking enough in itself – was based on inspections stretching back to October 2014.
As our Investigations Unit exposes today, the CQC’s reports on more than 5,300 homes published so far this year show as many as four in ten are now failing to meet acceptable standards. They include many that charge well above £1,000 a week and more than half of the homes run by the three biggest providers.
Meanwhile, all-too-familiar horror stories abound. Some of the worst homes were found to be filthy, with dried faeces on the floor. In one, residents were locked in their bedrooms with no natural light and kept in soiled clothing for days.
In others, the frail were left without food for nine hours, given the wrong medication or chastised for asking to go to the toilet.
Yes, the Mail welcomes Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s acknowledgment that every case of inadequate care is one too many. But with standards falling so fast – and only five homes successfully prosecuted by the CQC in two years – isn’t it increasingly clear a radical overhaul is needed to guarantee dignity for our ageing population?
During the election, the Tories at least tried to address the crisis with their botched funding plan – promptly withdrawn after Labour dubbed it a ‘dementia tax’.
now even the author of that ill-fated policy, nick Timothy, has joined our call for an apolitical Royal Commission to examine how to put social care and the nHS on a sustainable footing for the 21st century.
The longer politicians dither, appearing to prioritise foreign aid over our own neglected elderly, the more society’s most vulnerable will suffer. As our investigation shows so starkly, inertia is simply not an option.