MP David Ward says care homes should be better monitored (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

MP David Ward says care homes should be better monitored

9:00am Wednesday 27th February 2013 in News By Dolores Cowburn, Bradford Chief Reporter

MP David Ward

Concerns about the quality of care homes in the district have been raised by an MP as part of his research into social care.

David Ward, the Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East, said that as part of his Reforming Social Care: Voices from Bradford East report, he found that residents had voiced concerns about the quality of care – although it is unclear whether the concerns were about local authority-run or independent sector homes.

“It is particularly about the attitude and competence of a minority of care workers,” Mr Ward said.

“In particular, there was a general feeling that the standard of care in most residential care homes leaves room for improvement.”

There are about 100-plus residential homes across the district, including those with specialist and nursing services, according to Bradford Council’s Bradford Care Directory.

An Alzheimer’s Society report published yesterday says fewer than half of dementia sufferers living in care homes across the country enjoy a good quality of life and that society has such low expectations of care homes that people are “settling for average”.

Mr Ward said: “While it has already introduced some welcome measures to increase the quality of care, there is a strong argument for Bradford Council to take a greater role in driving up standards among independent sector care providers.”

His report was designed to give residents of Bradford a voice in shaping the reforms proposed within the Draft Care and Support Bill.

It will be submitted as evidence to the Joint Committee scrutinising the legislation which will address the growing needs of an ageing population and how care for them can be funded.

On the care home issue, he said: “There was also overwhelming support in our survey for the imposition of stricter quality standards on care homes and residential care providers.

“Up to 36 per cent of respondents ranked this first or second on a list of four possible measures to improve standards in social care.

“With the introduction of the Bradford Quality Assessment Framework we believe that the Council should use this opportunity to take a greater role in assessing the quality of independent sector care providers.”