The Consumers Association, in conjunction with 28 specialist charities, submitted an informal 'super-complaint' to the Office of Fair Trading urging further official investigation of the care homes sector. It said that the care home market was 'dysfunctional', and that an urgent investigation was needed to tackle key areas of concern in a sector serving frail and vulnerable consumers.
Source: Press release 5 December 2003, Consumers' Association (020 7770 7000)
Links: Consumers' Association press release | Briefing (pdf) | Age Concern press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
The Office of Fair Trading ruled that a National Health Service trust in Northern Ireland had not breached the Competition Act 1998 by offering 'uneconomically low and discriminatory prices' to private care home providers, compared with those it paid its own residential homes. (The BetterCare Group, a private care home provider - had complained that the trust, its main customer in the Belfast area, was abusing a dominant position in the purchasing of social care for the elderly.)
Source: Press release 18 December 2003, Office of Fair Trading (0870 606 0321)
Links: OFT press release
Date: 2003-Dec
A law firm report said that the inspection process for care homes (introduced in April 2002) was 'failing fundamentally', and that a modified system was needed. Following an inspection, 58 per cent of the 400 care home providers surveyed waited at least two months for a draft report to be delivered, and 38 per cent waited in excess of two months: this included homes where inspectors had discovered serious matters needing urgent attention. The care homes inspectorate said that this conflicted with its own survey findings, and that serious problems of abuse or poor care in care homes and other care services would be tackled with immediate action.
Source: DLA Healthcare Survey: Report 2003, DLA (08700 111111) | Press release 20 October 2003, National Care Standards Commission (0191 233 3600)
Links: Report (pdf) | DLA press release | NCSC press release
Date: 2003-Oct
Following consultation, the government confirmed that criminal record checks on existing care home staff would be at the highest 'enhanced level'. This level included the use of conviction and non-conviction information held locally by the police to determine a person's suitability for working with vulnerable adults. The government said the checks would help prevent abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults. The care standards watchdog said that it would 'exercise discretion on a case-by-case basis' when deciding how to deal with care homes that had not yet secured criminal checks for staff. Care home owners called for an urgent rethink of the decision, saying that delays in completing checks would severely hinder their ability to recruit new staff.
Source: Press release 9 September 2003, Department of Health (020 7210 4850) | Press release 22 September 2003, National Care Standards Commission (0191 233 3600) | Press release 8 September 2003, National Care Homes Association (020 7831 7090)
Links: DH press release | NCHA press release
Date: 2003-Sep
A survey found that care capacity in residential settings for elderly and physically disabled client groups fell by some 13,400 places in the 15 months to 1 April 2003, to reach 501,900 places across all sectors (private, voluntary and public).
Source: Care of Elderly People Market Survey 2003, Laing & Buisson (020 7833 9123)
Links: Summary | NCHA press release
Date: 2003-Jul
A report said that healthy older people living with a partner felt they had the highest quality of life, while those in residential homes were likely to report the poorest.
Source: Graham Beaumont and Pamela Kenealy et al., Quality of Life of the Healthy Elderly: Residential settings and social comparison processes, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: ESRC press release
Date: 2003-Jul
The government began consultation on proposed legislative changes designed to ensure that care homes were valued as single chargeable dwellings for council tax purposes, with the owner being liable for the council tax bill.
Source: Council Tax Liability for Care Homes: Consultation paper, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Consultation paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
The government announced its intention to legislate to ensure that all registered care homes in England were assessed for council tax as a single residence, even where they provided self-contained units for independent living. The proposals would mean one council tax bill being issued to the care home, with the owner responsible for paying. The government said the move would ensure that individual residents who were least able to pay would not be asked to pay a separate council tax bill for their accommodation.
Source: Press release 15.5.03, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (020 7944 3000)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-May
A new organisation ('English Care') was formed to campaign on behalf of care home owners in England. For the first time, the corporate members of the care sector, representing in excess of 100,000 beds, joined forces with smaller independent owners. The organisation began by threatening to close homes to new residents and patients supported by English councils, in an attempt to win big increases in state-funded fees.
Source: The Guardian 18.4.03
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Apr
The government announced that, following consultation, care homes which existed before 1 April 2002 would no longer be required to make changes to meet some of the physical environmental standards which came into force on that date. Higher standards would still apply to new care homes. Campaigners expressed 'extreme disappointment' at the moves.
Source: Care Homes for Older People: National Minimum Standards, Department of Health, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Care Homes for Adults (18-65) and Supplementary Standards for Care Homes Accommodating Young People Aged 16 and 17: National Minimum Standards, Department of Health, TSO | The Care Homes Regulations 2001 (updated), Department of Health, TSO | Press release 18.2.03, Department of Health (020 7210 4850) | Press release 18.2.03, Age Concern England (020 8765 7200)
Links: Standards (Homes for Older People) (pdf) | Updated regulations (pdf) | DH press release | Age Concern press release | NCSC press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The first special report of the new National Health Service ombudsman contained the results of four investigations into complaints about the way in which health authorities set and apply their eligibility criteria for NHS funding for the continuing care of older and disabled people. It said that the Department of Health's guidance and support to date has not provided the secure foundation needed to enable a fair and transparent system of eligibility for funding for long-term care to be operated across the country. But the government reportedly dismissed claims that many more people would be eligible for free long-term care as a result of the report.
Source: NHS Funding for Long Term Care of Older and Disabled People, Second Report (Session 2002-03), HC 399, Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report | Ombudsman press release | Age Concern press release | Community Care article
Date: 2003-Feb