The Government recently announced that Care Homes and home-care agencies are to come under the same scrutiny as failing hospitals. The special measures system introduced by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to improve failing NHS hospitals across England is due to be launched across care homes.
The Government scheme introduced last year put eleven hospital trusts into special measures and most have made progress since that time. A similar program will be introduced next year that will focus on care homes and home-care agencies and will cover an estimated 25,000 services. This could lead to the closure of those that fail to improve. Special measures will be based on a rating system similar to that used by Ofsted for schools, with categories of outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate. There will be closer scrutiny by regulators, management changes, buddying schemes and a director sent in to oversee any changes that need to be made.
Wills & Tax Solicitor Julie Partington says, “Placing a loved one into care is a very emotive issue, particularly as so many care homes have been in the news recently for inadequate care. We can assist you with planning and paying for long term care and with the preparation of a Lasting Power of Attorney. This would enable your loved one to specifically state the location of a preferred care home and to appoint a trusted person to act as ‘attorney’.”
We have offices in the Christchurch, New Milton and the New Forest. Our Wills & Tax team also cover Bournemouth and Poole. For a free initial chat, please call 01202 499255 and Julie or a member of the team will be happy to discuss any questions that you may have.
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