Guardian Angel Carers, an authoritative voice in the home care sector, has clarified how the revelations included within a Care Quality Commission (CQC) report correspond to a sustained and fast-growing need for professional home care.
The CQC figures indicate that 20% of regulated care homes are ‘failing’, with over 2,600 residential care homes considered inadequate or in need of improvement, adding further strain to an already pressured social care system and encouraging thousands of families to look elsewhere.
Summarising the Warnings Issued By the Care Quality Commission Around Care Home Standards
All care homes and home-care providers in England must be registered with the CQC, the regulatory body that performs periodic inspections and assessments. These are designed to enforce high care standards and protect care users from poor practice and unacceptable quality.
In its latest report evaluating the state of adult social care services, the regulator found that while around 77% of residential care homes are good, only 2% are categorised as outstanding. However, it also stated that a proportion of residential settings were delivering care to elderly and disabled people, which was 'completely unacceptable', with a fifth of services falling below the expected standards.
The independent body notes that its most pressing concern is safety, given that 23% of care homes failed to meet mandatory safety expectations, and 6,000 organisations across the social care sector were found to have major issues with staffing shortages, falls, and errors with drug administration.
While the regulatory body is responsible for inspecting a wide range of facilities, it highlighted that residential nursing homes had the most profound problems, with 32% receiving a status of inadequate or requiring improvement and 37% having been given instructions to improve safety.
A spokesperson from Age UK has already said that these outcomes are equivalent to families playing ‘Russian roulette’ when looking for a care placement.
Reflecting on the Impacts of Tax Rises and Cost Increases on Care Home Standards
This April, employers, including private care homes, will be subject to further cost increases, including sharp rises in national insurance contributions, given that the government has not offered an exemption to these organisations—as yet, only NHS hospital trusts are exempt.
Alongside the pre-existing staffing shortages and the large proportion of care homes failing to meet standards and being exposed to potential enforcement action, hundreds of care and nursing homes are expected to close their doors in the near future.
Added to other financial and staffing issues, it is thought to be inevitable that when more private care homes shut, this will reinforce the burden on local authorities and council-led care homes, themselves with smaller budgets, without any indication that sector-wide better standards, safety compliance and regulatory inspection outcomes are likely to emerge.
The Impacts of Reported Low Residential Care Standards on the Home Care Sector
Vikki Craig-Vickers, Managing Director at Guardian Angel Carers, said, ‘It was deeply distressing reading the CQC report, and we sympathise enormously with the outpouring of upset, confusion, and alarm from families—many of whom are worried about whether the percentages of underperforming care homes might mean their loved one isn’t being cared for as well as they might have hoped.
While it’s important to note that there remain a larger number of fantastic residential care centres, we recognise the reason for the concern and anticipate this translating into heightened demand.
In many cases, this is because more and more people want to live independently at home, don’t wish to relocate and leave behind everything they know, and prioritise autonomy, comfort, and being safe and well with their family, friends, pets and possessions close by.
Our nationwide home care teams have long reported significant and sustained demand, but we've seen an even greater need in recent weeks and months and believe that the publication of the CQC report has at least a part to play.
In response, we have investigated significant resources to expand our capacity, upskilling our wonderful teams of CareAngels to provide a greater scope of specialist care and ensuring that every Guardian Angel Carers territory has a strong, robust and committed workforce, ready to step in and ensure all the communities we serve have full control over the support they receive, and whether that happens in a care centre, or in their own homes.’
Guardian Angel Carers is a network of private, franchise-owned home care providers with branches across Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, South Wales, Surrey, Berkshire, Dorset, Sussex, and Hampshire.
Read more about Guardian Angel Carers - Guardian Angel Carers Explains the Key Role of Home-Based Support in Overcoming the Respite Care Crisis
About Guardian Angel Carers
Guardian Angel Carers is a leading home care provider dedicated to delivering compassionate, personalised care services. With a strong focus on independence, dignity, and quality of life, the company supports individuals in the comfort of their own homes, offering a range of services from companionship to complex care needs.
Media Contact:
Vikki Craig-Vickers
03333 660550
www.gacarers.co.uk
Source: Digital PR
Release ID: 1376799
