care home assurance visits scotland

Health service oversight of care homes that was introduced during the pandemic to protect residents has been criticised for showing a ‘lack of understanding’ of residential care.

A survey by the care providers’ organisation, Scottish Care found most care homes did not feel the arrangements had improved outcomes.

One manager quoted in the report said the visits were “determined to find fault… and [highlighted] an acute lack of knowledge about what constitutes good care for the elderly”.

Common concerns relate to health service teams being too focused on infection control rather than residents’ quality of life but some providers said unfair criticism had “decimated” staff morale.

Scottish Care is now calling for a review of the oversight structures in place.

The organisation says: ‘For many, it has felt like the oversight arrangements introduced in May 2020 have created confusion in the landscape…Worryingly, this experience detracts from prioritising the needs and wellbeing of those in receipt of care and support.’

Extra support for care homes was introduced in May 2020 at the height of the first wave of the pandemic.

Health boards and local authorities were told to take what the Scottish government said was a ‘lead role’ in oversight to keep residents safe.

NHS nurse and medical Directors were asked to take ‘direct responsibility’ for clinical support and provide advice on infection control measures.

But today’s report , which is based on a survey of 152 care homes, suggests the move led to confusion about how this fitted in with responsibilities of the existing statutory regulator.

One respondent said: “I had two oversight visits which were thorough and reassuring only for the Care Inspectorate to come in and grade us ‘2’ [weak] on the same thing. One of them is wrong.”

Others criticised a “big brother” approach by oversight teams, with one stating: “If anything, the battering staff morale took after assurance visit reduced outcomes for residents as the staff struggled to feel their value in the workplace.”

Some 57% said oversight had not helped to improve residents’ outcomes.

Around half of the respondents felt the Care Inspectorate – which regulates the sector alongside the oversight teams – lacked sufficient expertise.

‘Approaches to inspection are increasingly clinical since the pandemic, but more so since the introduction of oversight arrangements as they do not take the social care context/homely setting into consideration,’ the report states.

Read more: Government review admits care home ‘search for blame’ ; Double standards claim over NHS & care home deaths ; Lack of home care deaths investigations ‘unjust’

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Tags: Nursing & Midwifery ; Residential Care ; Scottish Government ; Social Care .

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Care Home Guide: Funding

This guide provides information about the financial help that may be available from the local council, for older people who have been assessed as needing care in a care home. It aims to answer some of the most commonly-asked questions.

Your local council’s social work department (or in some areas, the local health board) is responsible for assessing your need for care services and working out what financial support you may be entitled to.

A care needs assessment looks at what kind of care you need, and in what setting it can be best delivered. It is the first step in finding out what your care costs will be and whether you are entitled to financial support.

After your care needs assessment, your council will carry out a financial assessment, also known as a means test. This looks at your income and capital, and works out how much you will be expected to contribute towards your care home fees. 

In Scotland, personal care and nursing care are free to anyone who has been assessed as needing them. If the council decides that your needs can be best met in a care home, it will pay the personal and nursing care amount you are entitled to directly to the care home. You may qualify for one or both types of care.

At a minimum, you will be expected to contribute to your care home fees using your income, such as your State Pension. You may pay more if you have savings or other assets. This guide explains how care home funding works in different scenarios, including how your home will be treated in the financial assessment. 

Download the guide here

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Visiting adult care homes during Covid

Get guidance on visiting a care home during Covid on gov.scot.

Thinking about a care home

If you're thinking about a care home for you, or someone you're looking after, you can get help and advice if you want help:

• working out if a care home is needed
• choosing a care home
• getting a place in a care home

If you're not sure whether a care home is needed

Your local council can help you decide whether:

• care can be given at home
• the type of care needed can only be given in a care home

To be able to help you, your local council will need to visit.

After your visit

Your local council will give you advice about whether they can help make living at home easier. Some of the things they can do include:

• getting a nurse or social worker to visit you at home
• giving you things like special furniture

Find out more about care you can get at home.

If care can't be given at home

Sometimes the level of care needed can't be given at home. If this happens your local council can help you choose a care home and arrange a place.

Finding a care home

Your local council can help you choose the right care home, whether it is council funded or private. They can also arrange trial visits.

You should be aware that:

not all care homes have places

if your local council is paying towards the cost of the care home there will be a limit on how much it can pay

Your local council will be able to tell you more about what it can pay.

If you prefer to find a care home by yourself

The Care Inspectorate inspects and grades care homes in Scotland. You can check with them that a care home you're looking at meets a high standard.

The Care Inspectorate can also tell you what type of care each care home gives. This includes what type of special care they can offer, if needed.

Most care homes have their own websites that show what they provide. You can also phone them for a copy of their brochure, how to get a place and their Care Inspectorate grade.

Rooms and what to look for

All care homes must give you a room of your own. If you're moving in as a couple you can often get a double room, but not all care homes provide these.

You might also want to think about:

• whether rooms are fully furnished
• whether there are visits from people like hairdressers to help make things easier
• what staff are like
• whether they cater for special diets or accept meal requests
• whether they provide evidence of staff training to meet the Health and Social Care Standards

Age UK's Care Home Checklist can help you choose the right care home for you.

Getting a place

If a care home is council funded, your local council will be able to speak to the care home to arrange a place for you. You can also contact the care home yourself.

Some care homes have waiting lists, so if the move to the care home needs to be quick you might need to think about taking short-term care before moving in.

If you need help for a short time only you could use respite care. Your local council can tell you more about respite care.

Your local council can't arrange places with private care homes. If you want a place in a private care home you should contact the care home yourself.

Care home costs

All care homes charge fees. Most people need to pay something towards the cost of their care.

You'll need to work what you can afford to pay, and whether the care home you want is within your budget. You may be able to get help paying care home fees, but it depends on the outcome of a check, carried out by your local council, called a financial assessment. You can speak to your local council's social work department to find out more about, or arrange, a financial assessment.

Find out more about paying care home fees.

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Welcome to the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) care homes page. There are currently 183 registered care homes providing specialist care for adults and older people, people living with learning and physical disability, neurological illness, mental health conditions and brain injury.

There are approximately 7,000 people residing in care homes with around 15,000 staff supporting the delivery of care. Care homes are supported by their local Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) teams who provide a range of different services.

Webpage feedback

We welcome your  feedback  on the NHSGGC care home webpages.

The  Care Home Collaborative  works in partnership with all care homes across NHSGGC. We learn from and work with care home teams and their communities to help residents live their lives according to what matters to them.

HSCP teams provide a range of services to support care homes.

To learn more, please select your local area

Care Home Assurance visits provide an opportunity for partnership working and shared learning between care homes and HSCP teams. These visits identify areas of good practice as well as what could be better. Care homes are supported to have ownership of changes required and can work in collaboration with the HSCPs and the CHC to achieve changes.

Care Home Assurance Tool (CHAT)

Flu and Covid vaccinations are available for all residents in care homes, carers, frontline Health and Social Care Staff which i ncludes those working in Care Homes and in Care at Home Services . Every year we offer flu and the vaccine changes with the strains that are present so that we are all given the most protection possible. Even if you have had your primary course of the Covid Vaccine it is really important that you take up the offer of a Booster as Covid is a virus which changes and therefore the Covid Vaccine offered as a Booster is the most up to date for the variant that is circulating.

Both Vaccines protect against severe illness and reduce hospital admissions. By receiving your vaccinations you not only protect yourselves but your friends, family and those who are most vulnerable especially those we care for. By being vaccinated we also protect the demand on our NHS and Social Care Services.

If you are a resident in a Care Home then the Vaccination Team will come to vaccinate you in your residence and will also be able to vaccinate staff. If as a member of staff you are not at work on the day they visit it is still possible to receive your vaccine by attending our mobile bus and Community Clinics.

NHSGGC website has a list of all our clinics and mobile bus drop-ins: NHSGGC – Autumn Winter Vaccination Programme 2023/24

For information on the Winter Vaccine Programme please visit: Winter vaccines | NHS inform

Leaflets and information is available in alternative formats or other languages: Winter vaccines leaflets | NHS inform

If you are over 75 years or have a Weakened Immune System (WIS) and live in the community then you will receive a letter with an appointment. NHSGGC website has a list of all our clinics and mobile bus drop-ins: NHSGGC – Autumn Winter Vaccination Programme 2023/24

If you cannot attend the appointment allocated on the letter. You can change this via the NHS Inform Booking portal Login – Customer Service (nhs.scot) or by calling the National Contact Centre on 0800 030 8013. You can attend any community clinic where you work or live whatever is easiest. Flu is also available at Community Pharmacies across NHS GGC for those who are over 75, those with a weakened immune system (WIS) and Health and Social Care Staff including those working in Nursing Homes and Care at Home Services.

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Further progress on opening up care homes

 Residents can now have safer contact with named visitors during a COVID-19 outbreak.

New guidance will allow care home residents to choose a friend or relative as a ‘named visitor’ who will be able to visit them, even during a managed Covid-19 outbreak .

This is a change to current practice where most homes suspend routine visiting until outbreaks are over. It will allow those living in care homes to continue to have meaningful contact with loved ones, and balance the need for continuing infection prevention and control measures in care homes with the wider wellbeing of residents.

The change will apply to one named visitor when a care home is in a controlled Covid-19 outbreak, and a guidance note has been issued to support care homes to plan for this in consultation with their local Health Protection team. Revised guidance from Public Health Scotland issued last week has already set out that residents should be able to receive visits from a nominated person even while they are self-isolating as a precaution (i.e. after hospital stays; after being close contacts of a COVID-19 case if fully vaccinated).

Meanwhile Social Care Minister Kevin Stewart has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to introducing ‘Anne’s Law’, to enable people who live in care homes to choose a person or persons to support them in their health and wellbeing, as called for by Care Home Relatives Scotland. A consultation on how best to implement this will be published shortly.

Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care Kevin Stewart said:

“Throughout the pandemic, our overriding priority in care homes has been to safeguard and protect staff and residents from infection – but at times that meant that residents were cut off from their loved ones, which we know has caused anguish and distress for many.

“The proposal for a named visitor will provide continuity of meaningful contact for care home residents in managed COVID-19 outbreak situations, helping to protect residents’ wellbeing in parallel by allowing visiting in a safer way, rather than automatically suspending routine visiting during an outbreak.

“We will further strengthen residents’ rights in adult residential settings through the introduction of ‘Anne’s Law’ and a consultation setting out our aspirations for Anne’s Law and seeking views on how best we might make it work in practice will be published shortly.”

Background:

www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-open-with-care-named-visitor-during-outbreaks-letter-to-sector

Advice (for residents/family/friends) will shortly be available on NHS inform at www.nhsinform.scot/openwithcare

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