Thousands Of Elderly ‘Living In Filthy Care Homes’

Thousand of elderly people are living in filthy care homes exposed to the risk of infections and malnutrition. Inspectors found one in three homes provides barely “adequate” living conditions, and rated hundreds as “poor”.

{mosimage}It means many residents are at risk from untrained staff and low standards of cleanliness. In addition, some are not being helped to eat or are given unappetising food, while others struggle to get their medication or see doctors when ill. The catalogue of failings is exposed after the Liberal Democrats used Freedom of Information laws to obtain details of inspections in England.

The information was collected by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, which monitors care homes, but has not been released ahead of a new rating scheme to be introduced next year. The homes are divided into four categories: poor, adequate, good and excellent. In total, 732 were rated poor, and 3,086 were adequate. More than 400,000 of those aged 65 and above live in care homes.

Health Minister Ivan Lewis admitted in January that many elderly people were effectively being starved to death in homes, with some given a single scoop of mashed potato as a meal.

Yesterday, in a special Radio 4 ‘You and Yours’ programme, he said Labour was fully aware of the crisis facing Britain’s soaring elderly population, which ‘is one of the great political challenges facing our society’. But critics claim the Government has failed to provide extra funding to match the growing demands, leaving taxpayers to pick up the tab.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Sandra Gidley said: ‘This is the first time that we have had a list of care homes which are delivering a poor service – and it’s a disappointing picture. Vulnerable residents in over 700 homes across the country are enduring appalling conditions, where unclean rooms are putting them at risk of infection and they have no access to medical help when they need it.

‘They are even denied the basic dignity of privacy and control over daily decisions affecting their care. The Government talks about choice in personal care services: yet what choice do people have if their local nursing home is rated as unable to provide even the basic minimum standard of care?’

Last month a coalition of 15 charities, including Age Concern, warned that one in five of the population would eventually need long-term care – but the system set up to provide it is close to collapse and needs reform.

A spokesman for Age Concern said cash-strapped local authorities often pay privately-run homes ‘less than the going rate’ for looking after residents on state-funded care. This can force homes to lower their standards.

He added: ‘People in care homes are some of the most vulnerable in society and the absence of quality care can have a massive impact on their lives. All too often we hear of people whose lives have been made a misery by poor quality care. People who suffer from malnutrition, or catch an infection. Unless councils and the Government put more money into the care system, conditions will continue to fall.’

Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: ‘There must be a serious debate about how the care needs of an ageing population are funded. Council tax payers, including millions of older people, have had to pick up the tab and they simply cannot afford to pay any more.’

A spokesman for the Department of Health said it was investing £200million in community support, advanced technology and extra care services, to enable older people to maintain their independence. She said ‘Notwithstanding the sustained investment, we have recognised that demographic pressures, medical advances and rising public expectations mean that there is pressure on the social care system.’