NEWS RELEASE FROM THE
REGISTERED NURSING HOME ASSOCIATION

Issued 17th March 2004

REPORT ON MEDICINES IN CARE HOMES
IS FLAWED, CLAIMS RNHA

A scoring system used by the National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) to rank the competence of care homes in managing medication is itself seriously flawed, according to the Registered Nursing Home Association (RNHA).

In responding to a report published yesterday by the commission, the RNHA says that a home could technically ‘fail’ to meet the standard simply by not having the most recent copy of the British National Formulary on its premises.

The association claims the report is yet another example of how the focus on process, rather than performance, by the NCSC over the past two years is failing the patients they seek to protect.

The RNHA says that, whilst it does not condone poor practice and accepts the critical importance of sound management of patients’ drugs, the way the report was compiled makes it liable to exaggerate the position and portray some homes in a worse light than they deserve. As a result, unnecessary fears might be raised among older people in care homes or about to enter care homes.

RNHA chief executive officer, Frank Ursell, commented: “There are certainly many issues we need to discuss closely with the regulators and inspectors of the care sector to ensure that good practice is consolidated and extended. But we are not wholly convinced that the report paints an accurate picture.”

Mr Ursell also pointed to the difficulties which had faced the NCSC in producing a report that covers homes providing nursing care and those providing personal care.
He said: “The problem is that not all care homes are alike. Those which offer nursing care have qualified nurses on duty 24 hours a day to supervise the delivery of what is essentially health care, including the administration of patients’ medicines. Those which offer personal care all too often find themselves having to deal with residents’ medicines without the benefit of nursing expertise.”

He added: “It is not surprising that, in the report, nursing homes are identified as better performers in medicines management. This raises another key question about whether some of the people cared for in residential care homes ought more appropriately to be under the care of qualified nursing staff. Unfortunately, many social services departments opt for cheaper placements in residential care homes when an individual’s needs really demand a higher level of care.”

The RNHA formally objected when the Government decided three years ago to blur the distinction between nursing homes and residential care homes and to refer to all of them simply as ‘care homes’. This error of judgement, the association believes, has helped to create the current illusion that all care homes are similar when, in fact, they are very different in terms of their expertise and levels of understanding of people’s health.

Said Mr Ursell: “We have told the Government time and time again that nursing homes should be regulated by bodies which are health-related and not by bodies whose primary focus is on personal or social care.”

END

Notes to editors:

1. The report just published by the National Care Standards Commission is entitled
The Management of Medication in Care Services.

2. Under current legislation, nursing homes and residential care homes are all
referred to as ‘care homes’. They are regulated by the National Care Standards
Commission, which is due to be replaced by the Commission for Social Care
Inspection.

3. The Registered Nursing Home Association, which represents around 1,200 nursing
homes (a quarter of the total in the UK), believes that they should be inspected in
future by the Commission for Health Improvement, which is also responsible for
the NHS.

For further information and comment, please contact:

Frank Ursell, Chief Executive Officer, RNHA
Tel: 0121-454 2500 or mobile 07785 227000

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