Through Ideal Care Homes, I have been campaigning for high quality, personalised and affordable care for all – but I need more Local Authorities to recognise the need to encourage quality and promote improved services in their areas. I am increasingly of the view that this will only be achieved by the implementation of a national fee framework that Local Authorities can work to, providing and rewarding quality care. This should be accompanied by the abolition of third party top up fees – an issue which Dilnot does not address.
The Care Home sector labours under an unnecessary complex and inconsistent financing structure. What we as a society need is for the sector to focus on providing good quality of care at a fair price for all. Southern Cross had no reason or incentive to invest into improving the quality of their provision. Southern Cross failed because of poor quality care, leading to low occupancy not because of their rent.
The call for tighter monitoring is also not the answer to the recent Care Home crisis. I am not totally against monitoring per se but, as the saying goes “the pig doesn’t get any fatter by weighing it” more direct action is required.
The solution isn’t radical, it’s simple, it doesn’t require a whole new department to manage it, the departmental body is already in place it just needs to refocus. CQC should continue to register homes, but the responsibility for ensuring compliance with contracts and nationally agreed and transparent quality terms should sit firmly with the Local Authority – this is how they will drive quality within their locality.
If we sit back and continue to simply monitor, then those quality care providers that are out there will turn their focus away from local authority residents and focus on private fee payers. This will leave the Local Authority residents with an increasingly poor quality pool of care to choose from. Good quality care at a fair price for all isn’t either unachievable or unaffordable – but it needs national leadership to bring it to fruition. I am happy to help.
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