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LAID BARE Elderly care system in crisis after spike in complaints about residents’ treatment
This article was taken from: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4512083/elderly-care-system-in-crisis-after-spike-in-complaints-about-residents-treatment/
21st September 2017,
A new report has revealed complaints including about residents not being treated with dignity
INSPECTORS are dealing with four complaints in the elderly care system everyday, a shocking new report has revealed.
The critical state of the service has been exposed, with the number of enforcement actions against care homes and home helps also increasing by more than two-thirds in the past 12 months.
In a report released by the Care Quality Commission, it was revealed that the watchdog was dealing with complaints about unsafe care, poor staffing levels and residents not being treated with dignity.
Accusations around lack of food and water for residents were also flagged.
Concerns have now been raised that the sharp rise in the number of complaints means that severe problems may previously have been going under the radar, only now picked up due to improved enforcement procedures.
Caroline Abrahams of the charity Age UK told the Daily Mail: “Our social care system is struggling to cope and older people desperately need the Government to follow through on its commitment to develop proposals for strengthening it.
“These statistics are frightening for older people and their loved ones because they show that good quality, affordable care is far from guaranteed.
“In a civilised society we ought to be able to take it for granted that if we come to need this support it will be there for us, no ifs, no buts.”
The report revealed that more than 1,500 enforcement actions had been launched in 2016/2017.
According to the commission, 50 care firms were fined, with four taken to court.
More than 100 were forced to close down after being struck off the register.
A shock report released last year revealed that elderly were at risk from a crisis in social care.
A combination of budget cuts, minimum wage increases and staff recruitment issues is pushing providers of vital help like nursing homes and house-to-house visits to the brink of collapse, a committee of MPs warned.