NEWS RELEASE FROM THE
REGISTERED NURSING HOME ASSOCIATION
Issued 15th December 2003
BETTER PAY, TRAINING AND INSPECTION SYSTEM NEEDED -
RNHA EVIDENCE TO HOUSE OF COMMONS
HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE ON ELDER ABUSE
A strong commitment to ridding the whole of the care sector of the evil of elder abuse has been given by the Registered Nursing Home Association (RNHA) to the House of Commons Health Select Committee.
In evidence to MPs last week, RNHA chief executive officer Frank Ursell said it was vital to tackle both abuse and poor practice wherever they occurred.
Responding to MPs’ questions, Mr Ursell told the Health Committee that services provided to older people in nursing homes should be regulated and inspected in the same way as other health care provision.
“Why shouldn’t older people in need of physical or mental care have the same security of inspection as others in need of health care?”, he asked.
The RNHA believes the Commission for Health Improvement, which inspects NHS services, should be responsible for nursing homes, rather than the soon to be established Commission for Social Care Inspection.
“Nursing homes provide health care under the supervision of qualified nurses to individuals with often complex health needs,” said Mr Ursell. “Nursing homes should therefore be inspected by people from a health background. This would help to stamp out poor practice and abuse.”
Referring to the outgoing National Care Standards Commission, Mr Ursell said: “My biggest concern is that it has been driven by bureaucratic reporting as opposed to a more pragmatic making sure that things are right.”
In its evidence to the Select Committee, the RNHA calls for improvements in the rates of pay and training offered to care staff in nursing homes as one of a range of steps that would boost the fight against abuse. This, it points out, necessitates higher fees for publicly funded nursing home patients so that operators can afford to pay significantly above the national minimum wage.
Said Mr Ursell: “If only we could fish in the £8 an hour pool for staff and enhance the training they receive, older people in receipt of nursing home care would have a much better service across the board.” He pointed, however, to Government policy in the past which had resulted in older people being looked after by the least well qualified and least well paid.
The RNHA stressed to the Committee the importance of effective whistle-blowing procedures in care homes to draw management’s attention quickly to any signs of abuse, as well as the need to differentiate between intentional abuse and behaviour that amounted to bad practice.
Whenever an emotive term such as ‘abuse’ is used, says the RNHA, it may trigger a defensive response rather than a willingness to remedy the incident at the first opportunity, There is often a greater willingness to recognise that poor practice has occurred and, as a consequence, to take preventive action.
But whatever the causes of abuse or poor practice, the RNHA says they must be tackled promptly and effectively.
END
Frank Ursell, Chief Executive Officer, RNHA
Tel: 0121-454 2511 mobile 07785 227000
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