Meeting with the Minister / Our Seminars in Brighton and Croydon

This evening, Nadra and I are having dinner with the Minister, Paul Burstow MP. 

I had a really helpful meeting with him last week. It was an opportunity to speak about our ideas for making care homes a resource for the whole community.

Last week we also held 2 National Care Association seminars. These were well attended and we were able to consult with members about the Care Quality Commission’s consultation on changes to inspection and enforcement.

We are now writing our response and will let our members see it as soon as possible.

Age UK Conference & Day Care

Yesterday I spoke at a conference in Shrewsbury organised by Age UK Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.

It was a wonderful Conference and I was asked to speak about choosing a care home. This is always something I enjoy doing.

One of the key questions I was asked afterwards was from a lady who lives in sheltered housing in Shropshire where consultations are going on about the warden service being removed.

We know this is going on up and down the Country and this reminded me of the number of times I have heard recently about day centres being close down.

If this is happening in your area, have you thought about providing some day care within your own care home?

I am writing an information sheet for members about this at the moment and it will be emailed to members within the next 2 weeks.

Bureaucracy!

I spoke at a care conference in York yesterday afternoon. The delegates had had a long day but the majority of them stayed to the very end of the Conference.

The thing that struck me both as I was speaking and when people spoke to me afterwards is their concern that the sheer volume of bureaucracy and paperwork is taking them away from their caring responsibilities.

We all know that there has to be proper recording of essential paperwork but …… I know that care providers too often feel that they are being asked to complete paperwork for no good reason.

I am going to a meeting with Cynthia Bower the Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission at the beginning of December and I will raise this issue with her then.

If you have any examples of being required to keep records unnecessarily please let me know.

CQC Inspections

I would be very interested to hear from anyone what is happening with inspections at the moment. Are you still being asked by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to complete Provider Compliance Assessments (PCAs) of some of the Essential Standards? I know that other people are having unannounced inspections. I would be really pleased to hear what is happening in your area.

The unannounced inspections (instead of being asked to complete PCAs) are part of the current CQC consultation which ends at the beginning of December. You can take part in the consultation. For more information click here.

Am off to speak at a conference in York this afternoon.

National Care Association Annual Conference 2011 - Part 2

Thanks for all your feedback on the article posted yesterday.

Before part two, a quick reminder to please visit the members section of our website for photos, slides and presentations, which I'm sure you'll find helpful.

Following Dame Jo Williams CBE on the second day was Ann Macfarlane OBE, an ’Expert by Experience’ for the Care Quality Commission and service user. She captivated Conference with a powerful plea for the needs of the seriously disabled to be heard. She enlivened her talk by demonstrating how disabled people benefit from personalised individual care budgets, yet warned that people with high support needs are rarely heard. She also voiced real fears about some of the Dilnot proposals, particularly emphasising the distinct differences between a person with a lifetime of disability and someone who becomes disabled in later life.

ITV News Correspondent Chris Choi chaired a lively and successful ‘Question Time’ session that brought together Dame Gillian Wagner of the Residential Forum - who reviewed social changes since the Wagner report, published twenty years ago. Her analysis of current trends echoed the thoughts of other speakers, identifying a need for enhanced training and the encouragement of greater involvement by relatives, friends and the voluntary sector, in the context of current pressures on income and costs in residential care -.and Peter Hay, President of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services - who urged NCA delegates to contact him to contribute ideas and opinions to shape the current consulation being undertaken by the Department of Health. He emphasised that involvement in the Engagement Process was essential. The Coalition Government had recognised the need to reform the financing of care and was the first Government to commit to such a radical reform with a timetable for delivery.

The following Q&A session produced lively questions from the floor that led to some passionate exchanges with the panel, expertly handled by Chris Choi who kept proceedings moving applying his skill to the vibrant and diverting discussions.

Sir Andrew Dillon Chief Executive of NICE spoke about the standards that NICE writes for the Health Service currently and explained that part of the Health Service reforms was expected to include similar standards being written for social care. This prompted many queries, with concerns expressed about the amassing of more layers of standards. The Conference felt that clarification was desperately needed.

NCA Chief Executive, Sheila Scott OBE, in her closing address announced that the political campaign would continue although the issues might change. Amongst the issues identified at Conference to campaign on were the continued downward pressure on fees without a recognition of the impact by the Commissioners of services. Other areas to be addressed in the coming months included fair and equal access to care for people with a learning disability and making sure that the provider view was heard in the Department of Health’s consultation on the future of long term care.

Nadra Ahmed OBE, Chairman of National Care Association concluded by calling on all providers of care to join National care Association in their next campaign as the last six month’s campaign had demonstrated the real impact that the care sector itself could have by working together.

National Care Association Annual Conference 2011

We had an incredible Conference last week in London Docklands and the following is the first half of an article that we have prepared for the press, which I hope you find of interest.

If you do, come back to my blog tomorrow, I'll be adding the second part then!

NCA 2011 Conference

How ironic to be discussing the effects of the credit crunch on the Care Sector in the shadow of London’s Canary Wharf; symbolic icon of the World’s leading financiers.

The unseasonably hot weather certainly mirrored the temperature inside the conference venue with many delegates I spoke to getting hot under the collar about a number of issues. In particular, the unrealistic expectations to keep delivering a service operating to the highest standards whilst having to cope with crippling across-the-board cost rises and below inflation fee increases.

This year’s two-day conference at London’s Docklands Britannia Hotel, brought together an incredible array of top draw speakers from across social care and Government. On the first day, following opening speeches from Lord Popat and NCA Chairman Nadra Ahmed and Dept of Health Social Care Director General David Behan, Conference divided into three different work streams; Dementia Care; Learning Disability Care and Nursing Care. Delegates were spoilt for choice with such a rich variety of expert speakers covering such a diverse range of subjects.

In opening Conference Lord Dolar Popat remarked that having been elevated to what he called ‘the best day care home in the country’ disguised the fact that his is an important appointment for the care sector and a sign that the contribution made by care home providers would now receive greater recognition.

Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Society focused on the growing, important challenge posed by Dementia Care, highlighting far too many cases of loss of dignity and respect. The RNIB’s Julia Barrand, speaking on Dementia and Sight Loss, widened the debate by showing how loss of sight for older people can impact on their wellbeing and coordination.

An exclusive announcement of an NCA programme to improve the quality of life of service users with Dementia was made by National Care Association Chairman Nadra Ahmed OBE and Chief Executive Sheila Scott OBE.
The NCA programme, which is currently in development, will have seven principles underpinning it; Personalisation, Prevention, Protection, Partnership, Plurality, Productivity and People. The programme will instigate a culture change and training system in care putting service users and their families at the heart of the delivery of care.

Prof Alistair Burns, Dept of Health Clinical Director for Dementia and a practising psychiatrist, delivered an excellent overview of facts about dementia; Dementia dwarfs other diseases such as heart disease, cancer and strokes, yet research budgets are not comparable; 25% of hospital beds are occupied by dementia patients, while in the last 2 years people using memory clinics have increased by 56%!

The conference’s second day started where day one left off… with a broad side from Nadra Ahmed, who did not pull any punches when pointing out the crippling hike in costs to care homes, an undisguised cri de cœur aimed at the CQC’s inspection charge increases, CRB checks, the minimum wage, and fuel rises. This was not whingeing, she said, but justifiable concern at being told to deliver a quality care service for less. Under such duress, something had to give!

She reported that it was concerns about funding that had led to National Care Association launching a political campaign to bring those concerns to the attention of MPs and Peers. Concerns about CQC had also become part of the campaign. There had been external issues too such as Southern Cross and Winterbourne View which had bought social care to the top of the political agenda and lately opposition to the CQC Excellence Award Scheme.

CQC Chair, Dame Jo Williams CBE’ promised that significant responsive changes would be made to the regulatory model. Dame Jo Williams also said that she saw no prospect of the Excellence Award scheme going ahead after it had received a “universal thumbs down” by provider bodies and organisations such as the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services during the recent consultation exercise but she stressed that the final decision would be made by the Minister. Dame Jo also made a commitment to working more closely with the National Care Association.

Last night over dinner we were able to talk at length with Erin about all we had seen during the day and the large differences we have noted between the American model of care and the British model.

I saw a similar disparity when I was on holiday in Australia in February.

Compared to the size of American and Australian care facilities British ones are much smaller so if we are going to find a model of care that will make a real difference to service users and staff then it must reflect that difference.

The homes we went to yesterday all had teams of activities staff.

We do not think this is impossible though but it will need a great deal of thought and planning.

We have also heard about European models based upon small units of residents.

The important thing we have seen is that the difference that can be made to residents even with advanced levels of dementia by connecting them with their past.

I am trying to get more photos from Erin which will demonstrate what we are saying.