Care Campaign for the Vulnerable is learning of the pressures faced by conscientious led Care Providers striving to offer a caring and safe environment to both service users and staff. Safety monitoring is proving to be a invaluable care assist tool - bringing a more open and transparent culture into care homes as well as saving valuable resources within the care home sector and the NHS
360,000 REASONS WHY
•Circa 360,000 registered beds in the UK for the care of elderly people.
•Vast majority are occupied by older people with some form of dementia
•Demand for care is increasing
•Availability of skilled care workers and nurses is in decline
•CQC inspection resources are limited
•Local authority funding budgets are constrained
•The publicized incidence of abuse is increasing
•Families of vulnerable people are mobilizing to seek greater transparency and openness with providers.
Care Campaign for the Vulnerable monthly network meetings attended by care home providers, care professionals and families who have experience with loved ones in care homes
•Family experience was painful and the personal witness to the preventable neglect of other residents was distressing
•When discussing concerns with others, it became clear that many many families had a similar experience
•My and their perception was that no one really cared
•Families simply wanted to know if loved ones were being cared for. They didn’t want to hear about ‘unexplained incidents’ because no witness was present. They wanted to know what happened after they went home following a visit.
•Most families actually didn’t want to play a blame game, they were not seeking punishment and sanctions. They simply wanted honesty, transparency, openness and then action to ensure no reoccurrence. It really was that simple for the vast majority
•Yet no one really listened. Most were made to feel they were complaining unreasonably. That by not accepting the ‘unexplained injury’ version of events, they were then labelled ‘difficult families’.
•Initially righteous anger fuelled my decision to try and do something about care shortcomings, so an embryonic version of the now CCFTV was first formed in xxx
•Its goal? To know with certainty kind loving care was and is being delivered to vulnerable loved ones and to bring much more transparency for families in order to improve trust in providers.
Glenholme House Care Home part of the Wellburn Care Home Group who have CCTV safety monitoring installed in their care homes
•Every family member is a potential ambassador for your care home
•Relationships with families will improve dramatically
•Evidence available to support decision making when ‘incidents’ occur
•Protection for staff wrongly accused
•Targeted training to address visible shortcomings when mistakes are made
•Option for third party professional overview on a daily basis
•Proactive support for staff when safeguarding issues occur
•In the longer term, commercial benefits, in terms of fee rate and occupancy levels
PERCEPTION IS REALITY
Care Protect CCTV hub in Belfast
•Generally most family groups believe providers have something to hide
•Often providers themselves don’t know for sure what is happening in their own care homes
•Many family lobby groups believe these same providers have no actual interest in knowing what goes on daily
•Tightening regulation hasn’t prevented escalating abuse incidence
•Providers trot out the old mantra “ Care for our residents is our top priority’…. Then seemingly do nothing. Its cyclical and the message to families is ‘we don’t care
THE USUAL EXCUSES
•Privacy and Dignity concerns
•Cost is prohibitive
•Families and residents don’t want it
•We don’t want to create mistrust with our staff
•Regulators won’t approve it
•Our home is excellent, we don’t need it
•We have a ‘good/outstanding’ report so all is fine
•Dignity and Privacy can be respected within the parameters of safety monitoring and bedroom use would require consent
•Cost is much cheaper than a protracted safeguarding investigation, an embargo on admissions, a public scandal, a costly employee issue etc.
•94% of people polled by Panelbase in July confirmed they would support cameras in care homes. The HC One in house study confirmed the majority of families also supported such.
•Staff have on occasions been vindicated and if staff are resistant, perhaps they are in the wrong vocation.
•Regulators are not opposed. They support proportional to use.
•Inspections are few and far between. Systems provide 24/7 review capability.
•Entire care sector embracing surveillance technology and welcoming the positive change it would bring.
•Regulators and Commissioners of services mandating providers to have such systems as a contract requirement
•Third party professional monitoring that would allow a completely independent review of any service
•OPENNESS with families. When something happens all we want to know is; what was it, what did you do about it, and assure us you have taken action to prevent it from ever happening again.
•Using CCTV technology will allow families to understand ‘an unexplained injury’ in most instances probably has happened innocently. It if was your child, your parent you wouldn’t want anything less.
"The evidence from Providers who have installed CCTV seems to me to merit careful attention and to be quite persuasive"
Just some of the Care Providers who support our CCTV Safety Monitoring in Care Homes
Download their 'Safety Monitoring In Communal Areas in Care Homes' document
Chiltern and South Bucks District Council SAFE PLACE SCHEME has called on Care Campaign for the Vulnerable to add our support to the initiative for those who are vulnerable in the community to get help if out and about and feeling scared , lost or confused.
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Care Campaign for the Vulnerable is learning of the pressures faced by conscientious led Care Providers striving to offer a caring and safe environment to both service users and staff. Safety monitoring is proving to be a invaluable care assist tool - bringing a more open and transparent culture into care homes as well as saving valuable resources within the care home sector and the NHS