News

It was reported today Friday 17th November 2018 that the Regulator sets out consumer advice law for Care Homes. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued guidance for care home providers on their consumer law responsibiliteis. (Read here) http://www.carehomeprofessional.com/breaking-news-regulator-sets-consumer-law-advice-care-homes/?utm_source=Email+Campaign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=42388-283115-Care+Home+Professional+DNA+-+2018-11-16

Care Campaign for the Vulnerable Founder Jayne Connery welcomes this and said it was 'about time something was put in place to protect the rights of those who enter care homes’’.

Care Campaign for the Vulnerable statement

Care Campaign for the Vulnerable welcomes any legislation that provides greater transparency around all aspects of living in a care home, whether that be associated placement costs or just as importantly, legislation guaranteeing a minimum quality of the care service a resident must receive.

This particular guidance however, in the absence of the CMA yet to be published findings, will be well received by families who are often responsible for seeking placements for elderly loved ones. Pricing is often confusing, with some care providers not always being clear enough about what is included in fees and what is not.

We would urge care homes to act on this guidance and see it as a positive marketing opportunity. CCFTV does not believe pricing should be a 'race to the bottom’ but rather like the hotel sector, i.e price relates to the quality of the environment offered, the level of service guests can expect to receive and the belief that guest loyalty and trust is to be valued. That is the experience we would expect vulnerable people looking for care home placements can enjoy and ultimately they can then exercise choice as to their own particular preference.

We are pleased to note the Minister for Care Caroline Dinenage’s comments committing to setting out further consumer protections in the much anticipated adult social care green paper later this year. It is our hope that those protections will include mandatory independent CCTV safety monitoring in all care homes throughout the UK. Whilst we welcome this guidance around pricing, it is our view that the lack of consistent and acceptable high quality care requires much more urgent action by way of legislation.