Hidden cameras in care homes

It was good to read this week about proposals for a shake-up of the inspection regime for care homes and domiciliary care providers in England next year.

According to the BBC, incoming adult social care chief inspector Andrea Sutcliffe has plans to use techniques including hidden cameras and mystery shopping to uncover cases of abuse and neglect.

The use of these techniques would need to be balanced against the need for privacy and dignity in such settings.

Next year sees adult social care services given an Ofsted-style rating of ‘outstanding’, ‘good’, ‘requires improvement’ or ‘inadequate’. This will mirror the system also being introduced for hospitals.

It will be the responsibility of the new Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections to determine whether services are safe, caring, effective, well led and responsive to people’s needs.

The current system, which is replaced by this new system, relies on 16 core standards against which services are assessed as either compliant or non-compliant.

New inspections will start in autumn 2014 and will aim to inspect all 25,000 care homes, nursing homes and domiciliary care agencies by March 2016.

If you are considering a care provider for a friend or relative, this new inspections regime should give you a greater degree of confidence in the quality of that care.

Despite the introduction of this new regime, nothing can really replace your own scrutiny of the care provider, both at outset when the decision is made to choose that care home or domiciliary care provider, and on an ongoing basis.

Do speak to us if you have any questions about funding the provision of long term care, either in a care home or using a provider of domiciliary care in your own home.

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