03/07/06 - Hotel-style ratings for care homes

A new system for assessing care homes in England is to be introduced in a bid to improve standards.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) will rate care homes for the elderly and disabled on a four-star hotel-style rating system, with four stars being excellent and one star poor, according to The Times.

The aim is to give care managers an incentive to improve the standards of care and the quality of equipment and accommodation, and to give residents and their relatives an idea of the level of care to expect.

Dame Denise Platt, chairman of the CSCI, which registers, inspects and reports on social care services in England, said there was currently no clear link between the fees charged and the quality of care provided by care homes.

“People can read our reports about individual homes, but until now there has been no way to make direct comparisons between homes.

“We hope that the new system will bring quality closer to price,” she said.

Details of the rating system will be published in a consultation document next month with the new star-ratings system being introduced from April next year.

Martin Green, the chief executive of the English Community Care Homes Association, which represents 2,800 independent care home owners, said: “Care homes are under funded.

“There has to be a closer link between the amount local authorities are prepared to pay for care and quality.”

Source : Press Association