In May we carried out a survey (from 10th -21st) to give an overall idea of what is happening. Thank you to 1,177 people who completed it. Today more changes come - we very much hope that some of the results below rapidly change as well - Thread to follow: #rightsforresidents
The first question: where is your relative/friend in a care home - We got replies from across the UK (88.7% England, 6.2% Scotland, 3.4% Wales and 1.6% NI) #rightsforresidents
The results of this next question shows a reflection of the care home 'market' and how a large % is run but Care Groups of all sizes #rightsforresidents
We asked for the name of the Care Group and again got a very wide range - below the graph shows those where we received 5 or more responses for #rightsforresidents
Has your Care Home carried out an individual risk assessment. This is part of the guidance and it is essential that they should be carried out so that individual plans can be made for each resident, after all, all our needs and requirements are different #rightsforresidents
Have you asked for Essential Care Giver Status - surprisingly (or not according to the managers we speak to) it is not a large % that have asked for this #rightsforresidents
BUT of those that have asked the majority have had it denied. The reasons given vary:
It is not necessary
We are not doing that and will not consider it
It needs to go to head office
It is not our policy
The list of excuses goes on - this must change #rightsforresidents
How Frequently can you visit - the guidance states regularly (not defined) every 2/3 weeks is, incase anyone was wondering, not regularly. Once a week, when family would visit daily is not considered regularly. We need to see a dramatic change in this area #rightsforresdients
Where does your visit take place - this again threw up many different answers, as you can see below (how are window visits the second highest answer) #rightsforresidents
Finally the duration of the visit. No where in the guidance does it say how long/short a visit should be. 20/30 mins is totally unacceptable and for those with dementia it can be almost impossible to make the visit meaningful with such a restricted time limit #rightsforresidents
Who protects some of the most vulnerable in our society? Who ensures that care homes are safe? Why does it take 5 requires improvements and horrendous #safeguarding issues to get the regulator and local authority to act. Would you want your loved one treated like this? 🧵#RFR
Let down by the @CareQualityComm how can you get 5 requires improvements in a row. Let down by the local authority, how can @Calderdale continue to send people to a place with such a bad record - do the lives of those in care not matter anymore? #RightsForResidents
Residents referred to by room numbers not names...as a society is this what we have become? #RightsForResidents bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…
Thread on evictions:
Tomorrow and 83 year old lady with advanced dementia is being evicted from her care home. The place she has call home for over 5 years. She is one of four to be evicted (as far as we know) #rightsforresidents
The reasons given, from duty bound to protecting their staff who no longer feel able to support (not true, the staff are wonderful), agency staff needed for 1:1 care costing £££, untrue and observed by an ICB assessor as such, to no longer meet the family expectations. #rfr
The family do not have a contract with the provider and cannot say what expectations have not been met. The company have declined all forms of mediation and have failed to attend all meetings with the ICB and the local authority. #rfr
"I know the Minister will cite CQC guidance, but it is not strong enough, which is why so many feel that it needs to be enshrined in one form or another" Thank you @tracey_crouch for sharing not only your personal story last week, but that of your young constituent too #rfr
"We have to say Never Again. As other Members have said, there is cross-party support & we will work with the Government to put this into law. Surely the time has come to create a new legal right to maintaining contact" Thank you @libdemdaisy for your support #rightsforresidents
"We are failing vulnerable members of our society and it simply cannot be allowed to continue. We must end all unlawful visiting restrictions and stop this unnecessary suffering and neglect" Thank you so much @EstherMcVey1 for speaking at the debate last week #rightsforresidents
"Guaranteeing the right to contact in care" Never Again must we treat our loved ones in care in this way, many sadly no longer with us, many died alone, many isolated, many felt abandoned we urge all MPs to join the debate tomorrow @DanCardenMP@tracey_crouch@libdemdaisy#rfr🧵
We have been asked, do you remember when you joined Twitter? We should never have had to join or even start up, but 2 years later we are still going. Thank you to all who have/do support us. Thread 🧵1/14 #GloriasLaw#rightsforresidents#MyTwitterAnniversary
Every MP that as written to Minister for Care and Mental Health has received the same letter with the same ending - recommending you speak to @CareQualityComm only they will not respond to any complaint - so who will @GillianKeegan 3/9 #rightsforresidents