Social Care News

31st July 2012

Concerns raised over planned changes to care home categories

CONCERNS have been raised over plans by CSSIW to phase out the use of care home categories and replace them with more detailed statements of purpose and “increased provider accountability”.

Stephen Ford, CFW’s dementia care adviser, said he was not convinced such a radical move was necessary but, he said, “I advise care home members to prepare for the changes which will affect every care home in Wales in the next three years starting in 2013.”

The new CSSIW rules will mean that care homes which are currently registered to provide specialist dementia care (EMH) and mental health and learning disabilities care will no longer be assigned these specific registration categories.

Instead, all care homes will be called one of the following:

• care homes for adults
  
• care homes for adults with nursing
• care homes for children

The different types of care on offer will then be reflected in each individual care home’s statement of purpose – which must be legally watertight and will need to be comprehensively reviewed to comply with the new rules.

CSSIW says this will leave fewer care homes open to legal challenges because their statement of purpose will make it clear precisely what range and level of care they can provide, and for whom.

Stephen Ford, who runs two specialist dementia care homes with nursing care, said: “To care for someone who is in the mid to late stages of dementia remains a speciality.

“I am concerned that some non-dementia care providers will claim expertise in their statement of purpose but how robustly will CSSIW enforce this? I am worried that abandoning care categories will leave many people even more vulnerable.

“What’s claimed in their statement of purpose may not necessarily be reflected in reality when it comes to dementia care expertise,” he added.

David Francis, CSSIW assistant chief inspector, said: “We currently have unreliable categories which can be confusing and misleading. They are not set against agreed standards and are therefore hard to police.

“They can also create unnecessary discrimination and limit choices for people looking for care. We need to look at individual needs and not place people into categories.

“There will always be a need for specialist care but this is best expressed though the service’s statement of purpose.”

Mr Francis added: “A number of providers are currently registered for [sic] dementia and mental infirmity and claim they provide specialist care but the actual evidence on the ground is that they do not.”

He said that, following a study undertaken by Bangor University for CSSIW in which a wide range of people were consulted, CSSIW will be announcing its decision in July and providing a six-week period for feedback

Mr Francis continued: “We will be expecting statements of purpose to provide a detailed narrative of what care can be provided, for whom and how this is [will be] being delivered in terms of the service’s approach to care, staff training and the care home environment.

“CSSIW will be looking closely at how providers monitor delivery though their in-house quality audits.”

Stephen Ford will be available to CFW members to explain the impact of the CSSIW changes in greater detail – watch this space for details.

He said: “It’s such a radical change. Care providers will obviously need help with these major adjustments which will be phased in over the next three years.

“I’m far from totally convinced that de-categorisation will be helpful but clearly we should be working closely with CSSIW during this time of change,” he added.

“I understand the rationale for the proposals but I am not sure this is the best way to achieve them.”