An article examined the different integrated approaches to healthcare services supporting older people in care homes, and identified barriers and facilitators to integrated working. There was limited evidence about what the outcomes of different approaches to integrated care between health services and care homes might be.
Source: Sue Davies, Claire Goodman, Frances Bunn, Christina Victor, Angela Dickinson, Steve Iliffe, Heather Gage, Wendy Martin, and Katherine Froggatt, 'A systematic review of integrated working between care homes and health care services', BMC Health Services Research, Volume 11
Date: 2011-Nov
The United Kingdom's largest operator of residential care homes (Southern Cross) announced that its 750 homes were being taken over by its landlords, after attempts to rescue the company from financial problems failed.
Source: BBC report, 11 July 2011
Links: BBC report | Hansard | DH press release | ADASS press release | ECCA press release | Labour Party press release | Guardian report | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Jul
A report said that many vulnerable older people resident in care homes were frequently denied access to routine National Health Service healthcare such as a family doctor, therapy, out of hours services, or specialist dementia services.
Source: Quest for Quality, British Geriatrics Society
Links: Report | BGS press release | Community Care report | Telegraph report
Date: 2011-Jun
A briefing paper reported a study that examined result-oriented quality indicators for residential care homes for older people in Europe.
Source: Frederique Hoffmann and Kai Leichsenring, Quality Management by Result-Oriented Indicators: Towards benchmarking in residential care for older people, European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (Vienna)
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Jun
A new book examined issues relating to mental health (including dementia) and care homes. It discussed the regulatory, funding, and legislative context in which care homes operated; the major mental and other health issues that arose in care homes; interventions and services; and good practice in the promotion of health and well-being.
Source: Tom Dening and Alisoun Milne (eds.), Mental Health and Care Homes, Oxford University Press
Links: Summary | Kent University press release
Date: 2011-Jun
A report said that the 'chronic under-funding' of care homes, a growing shortage of places, and a rapidly ageing population would mean that more vulnerable people had nowhere to go but hospital for the care they needed. If existing trends continued, almost 100,000 of 170,000 National Health Service beds would end up being filled by elderly people who were well enough to be in residential care.
Source: Who Cares? Funding adult social care over the next decade, Bupa
Links: Report | Age UK press release | NHS Confederation press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2011-Feb