The government announced that it would accept the recommendations of an official taskforce on improving user participation in social care regulation. It said that national minimum standards in care homes would be applied in a more flexible way.
Source: Press release 1 December 2004, Department of Health (020 7210 4850)
Links: DH press release | DH response (pdf) | BRT press release | Taskforce report (pdf) | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Dec
The government began consultation on the level of National Health Service funding for nursing care to apply from 1 April 2005. For eligible care home residents, the high band would increase from 125 to 129 per week; the medium band from 77.50 to 80 per week; and the low band would remain at 40 per week. (The three bands are based on the level of an individual s need.)
Source: Proposed Changes to Residential Care Charges from 4 April 2005, Department of Health (08701 555455)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | DH press release
Date: 2004-Dec
A survey found that care capacity in residential settings for elderly and physically disabled client groups shrank by some 9,600 places in the year to April 2004, to reach 486,000 places across all sectors (private, voluntary and public) - some 89,000 places lower than the peak in 1996.
Source: Care of Elderly People Market Survey 2004, Laing & Buisson (020 7833 9123)
Links: L&B press release | NCHA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Sep
Research examined quality of life for frail older people who had moved into care homes. Despite negative attitudes towards frail older age and to life in care homes, many sought to improve their quality of life. Being able to communicate by expressing themselves and maintaining relationships was a key factor.
Source: Susan Tester, Gill Hubbard, Murna Downs, Charlotte MacDonald and Joan Murphy, Exploring Perceptions of Quality of Life of Frail Older People During and After their Transition to Institutional Care, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2004-Jul
A new book evaluated the outcomes of care homes for older people, and identified the factors determining quality of life of older people in homes. It identified the relationship between older people's psychological well-being and the kinds of care received in homes.
Source: Caroline Mozley, David Challis, Caroline Sutcliffe, Heather Bagley and Lis Cordingley, Towards Quality Care: Outcomes for older people in care homes, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2004-Jul
A report said that new regulations and inspections for care homes were raising standards of care for older people. More than 50 per cent of standards were met by almost 68 per cent of registered care homes for older people; the number of places in registered care homes for older people increased between April 2002 and October 2003; and the number of older people's homes meeting all the standards improved from 25 per cent in 2002-03 to 48 per cent in 2003-04.
Source: Gillian Dalley et al., How Do We Care? Availability of registered care homes and children s homes in England and their performance against national minimum standards 2002-03, National Care Standards Commission, available from Commission for Social Care Inspection (0845 015 0120)
Links: Report (pdf) | DH press release | Community Care report
Date: 2004-Mar
The Office of Fair Trading announced that it would carry out a study to assess the impact of price information on competition and choice among nursing and residential care homes for older people. It was responding to an informal super-complaint by a consumer group. The study would examine: the context in which older people and their relatives made choices about a care home and how this affected competition in the market; the ease with which prospective residents and their representatives could obtain sufficient clear and accurate information on fees and extra charges; and whether contracts offered sufficient transparency and protection against unreasonable price increases.
Source: Response to the Super-complaint on Care Homes Made by the Consumers' Association on 5 December 2003, OFT 703, Office of Fair Trading (0870 606 0321)
Links: Response (pdf) | OFT press release | Help the Aged press release | Age Concern press release | Consumers' Association press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2004-Mar
Researchers found that many frail, older people living in care homes were not being given to preserve their sense of personal freedom and identity - despite evidence that this enabled older people who could no longer live at home to enjoy a better quality of life.
Source: Susan Tester, Gill Hubbard, Murna Downs, Charlotte MacDonald and Joan Murphy, Exploring Perceptions of Quality of Life of Frail Older People During and After their Transition to Institutional Care, Economic and Social Research Council (01793 413000)
Links: Summary (pdf) | ESRC press release
Date: 2004-Feb