A research project on night-time care in three Scottish care homes has been dubbed as 'devoid of common sense' by the RNHA, whose chief executive officer Frank Ursell said: "It seems that care staff stand accused in this report of making too many checks on residents during the night to check, for example, on their breathing and to see whether anyone has fallen over in their room or has a continence problem that needs sorting out. Yet staff are equally pilloried when things go wrong, such as a continence pad not being changed when it needs to be. Is this not yet another example of ivory tower research that cannot see the wood for the trees?"

Responding to an All Party Parliamentary report on dementia care, the RNHA said the treatment of patients with dementia should be person-centred in all cases, with each and every individual having a care plan that is specific to their needs, regularly reviewed, and flexible enough to respond to changes in their condition. As far as the use of neuroleptic drugs is concerned, the RNHA recommends its member nursing homes to abide by the 'best practice' guidance issued by NICE and SCIE, which says that pharmacological interventions should be considered only if the patient is severely distressed or there is an immediate risk of harm to the person or others.

The RNHA is supporting the National Care Homes Week, which will take place in the first week of June and celebrates the fact that the sector is made up of hard-working, dedicated staff who genuinely care for the well-being of their residents.

Welcome to RNHA Care-Academy which has been created to help you deliver training and development programmes such as Induction and Mandatory Refresher course.

Nursing homes across England have been advised to use a robust quality assurance assessment tool to prepare for future inspections under the new star rating system being introduced this year. The RNHA believes that carrying out rigorous self-assessment prior to formal visits by CSCI inspectors is vital.

Around six out of ten nursing homes in the West Midlands are likely to be rated as 'excellent' (three star) or 'good' (two star) under a new star rating scheme being introduced nationally during 2008. Preliminary figures obtained by the RNHA from CSCI show that 53 (12%) out of the region's 435 nursing homes inspected so far under the system have won three stars, whilst a further 201 (46%) nursing homes have been awarded two stars.

The Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPA) at the University of Oxford is co-ordinating international research on the demand for migrant workers in social care for older people. UK nursing homes are invited to complete an on-line questionnaire. In January 2008, the Border and Immigration Agency published updated guidance on changes to transitional measures regarding the employment of senior care workers from overseas.