RNHA
Registered Nursing Home Association
 With the membership and terms of reference of the government's commission on the funding of care having been announced, the RNHA says the time has come for the country to decide how big a priority it wants to give to looking after people in their old age.
Pointing to several previous inquiries and learned reports over the past 20 years on the funding of services for older people, the RNHA believes that crucial decisions are long overdue and that successive governments have preferred to look the other way.
Said RNHA chief executive officer Frank Ursell: "There has, it seems, been an insatiable appetite for talking about the problem without actually doing anything about it. Let us hope that this latest episode in 'inquiry-land' comes to something and that the government will not simply nod its head and park the problem on one side for another ten years." |
This section of our web site gives the latest news from regulators responsible for registration and inspection of nursing homes across the UK. In addition, it provides access to guidance logs used by inspectors in England to check how well nursing homes are meeting national minimum standards of care. The logs can also be used to help clarify how the standards should be interpreted. |
|
|
Nursing home managers throughout the country are being urged to give a high priority to ensuring that their infection control procedures are as rigorous as possible.
The RNHA is currently making its members aware of detailed guidance developed by the Department of Health.
It is vital, the RNHA stresses, that nursing homes should comply with codes of practice on, for example, hand hygiene; use of disposable gloves and aprons; aseptic techniques to prevent contamination of wounds; safe handling of needles used for injections; the cleaning and disinfection of items such as hoists, commodes and bedding; and correct methods of dealing with outbreaks of communicable infection.
|
The government has established a Commission, chaired by Andrew Dilnot, to look into the funding of care and support. It will be taking written and oral evidence over the coming months and is expected to report its recommendations to the Health Secretary and the Chancellor of the Exchequer by July 2011. Click here to view a Ministerial statement setting out the detailed terms of reference for the Commission and a Department of Health news release.
|
Nursing homes provide 24-hour care to nearly 200,000 people across the UK, many with multiple and often complex health problems. In this section of our web site, you can obtain up-to-date information and comment about, or relevant to, the sector from different sources including the RNHA, Counsel and Care, Brunswick’s Health Review and a range of other organisations and individuals. |
|
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) may be learning from the mistakes of its predecessor about the best ways of assessing the quality of services provided to older people, but still has some way to go before it has established a reliable, accurate and fair method.
That is the provisional verdict given by the RNHA to a consultation document from the Care Quality Commission on changes it is thinking of making to the quality assessment system.
|
Professional associations representing care sectors have produced a pack which will help home owners ensure that the care provided by their staff respects residents’ privacy, confidentiality and dignity. You can download the materials by clicking here. |
On 8th December 2009 the Care Quality Commission published new guidance to help providers of adult social care comply with the relevant regulations governing their business. Click here for Summary of Regulations, Outcomes and Judgement Framework. Click here for Essential Standards of Quality and Safety. Click here for Judgement Framework. |
