A report said that basic standards of dignity and respect were being ignored in the care of dementia sufferers in residential homes. Families were often wary of complaining in case their relatives suffered reprisals.
Source: Home From Home: Quality of care for people with dementia living in care homes, Alzheimer's Society (020 7306 0606)
Links: Report | Alzheimer's Society press release | ADASS press release | Help the Aged press release | Counsel and Care press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Community Care report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Nov
An article examined the public's awareness of 'elder abuse'. Older people believed that there was less neglect and mistreatment of older people than younger people; women perceived it more than men; and there were regional variations in these perceptions. One-quarter said that they knew an older person who had experienced neglect or mistreatment, and such reports were most likely among the middle-aged and women. The most frequently reported locations of abuse were care homes and hospitals, and the most commonly reported form was inadequate or insufficient personal care.
Source: Shereen Hussein, Jill Manthorpe and Bridget Penhale, 'Public perceptions of the neglect and mistreatment of older people: findings of a United Kingdom survey', Ageing and Society, Volume 27 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Nov
An article examined how moves to bring older people into deliberative democratic processes had tended to exclude those in institutional settings. Without a significant investment in independent advocacy services, the government could not deliver on its own agenda of empowerment, active citizenship, and inclusion.
Source: Peter Scourfield, 'Helping older people in residential care remain full citizens', British Journal of Social Work, Volume 37 Number 7
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Oct
The social care inspectorate said that although care homes were improving the information they gave to prospective residents, advertised fees for places in the same care home could vary hugely, sometimes from £650 to £1,500 a week – and without a clear explanation of why some people paid more than others, or of what their money would buy.
Source: A Fair Contract with Older People? A special study of people's experiences when finding a care home, Commission for Social Care Inspection (0845 015 0120)
Links: Report | CSCI press release | RNHA press release | NCF press release | ECCA press release | Help the Aged press release | Age Concern press release | LGA press release | Community Care report | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2007-Oct
Research found that 69 per cent of voluntary sector providers of residential child care were not getting a sufficient number of referrals. Over 50 per cent of commissioners cited cost as the determining factor in choosing placements.
Source: VCS Engage, The Impact of Market Forces on the Operation and Capacity of the Residential Child Care Sector, National Centre for Excellence in Residential Care/National Children's Bureau (020 7843 6093) and Social Care Association
Links: Report | Summary | Appendices | Community Care report
Date: 2007-Aug
A new book drew on recent research to address key issues in residential child care policy and practice, offering guidance for developing best practice and improved outcomes for children and young people.
Source: Andrew Kendrick (ed.), Residential Child Care: Prospects and challenges, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (020 7833 2307)
Links: Summary
Date: 2007-Aug
The Law Lords ruled that residents of private care homes were not covered by human rights law. They rejected the argument that homes carried out a public function by caring for people referred by a local council and were therefore bound by the Human Rights Act.
Source: YL v Birmingham City Council and others, UKHL 27 (Session 2006-07), House of Lords Judicial Office (020 7219 3111)
Links: Text of judgement | Briefing | DRC press release | Scope press release | Help the Aged press release | Age Concern press release | JUSTICE press release | Liberty press release | BIHR press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Jun
A survey found that major providers owned or operated 212,000 of the 411,000 places in independent sector care homes for older people in April 2007 - a market share of 52 per cent, compared with 49 per cent in 2006. (Major providers were defined as any group providing three or more care homes.)
Source: Long Term Care: Directory of Major Providers 2007, Laing & Buisson (020 7833 9123)
Links: L&B press release
Date: 2007-Jun
A Member of Parliament introduced a Bill designed to ensure that vulnerable people in private sector care services were protected under the Human Rights Act.
Source: Human Rights Act 1998 (Meaning of Public Authority) Bill, Andrew Dismore MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill | Community Care report
Date: 2007-May
An article examined how dying and death in care homes for older people were regulated and inspected. If the regulation and inspection process were to integrate dying with living, a broader conception and regime of inspection was required: only then would end-of-life care be provided that met the diverse needs of older people who lived in care homes.
Source: Katherine Froggatt, 'The "regulated death": a documentary analysis of the regulation and inspection of dying and death in English care homes for older people', Ageing and Society, Volume 27 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Mar
The Court of Appeal ruled that residents of privately run care homes were not protected by human rights laws applying to public bodies, even when the homes looked after patients on behalf of local authorities.
Source: Johnson and others v London Borough of Havering, Court of Appeal 30 January 2007
Links: Text of judgement | Age Concern press release | BBC report
Date: 2007-Jan