Improvement needed in care homes information, study claims

Older people should have access to a ‘one-stop-shop’ providing information on care home provision, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has recommended.

The OFT also said that care home residents should have better access to complaints procedures and be provided with greater price transparency and fairer contract terms.

The recommendations follow a ten-month study, which was undertaken by the OFT following a super-complaint from consumer magazine Which? against the £8 billion industry.

The OFT study found “significant problems” in obtaining information about moving into a care home and complaints systems, as well as issues surrounding contract terms.

The study also found that the variety of information souces meant that familes of care home residents could find it difficult to know where to go for information as well as “lack of consistency” between local authortities provision of advice and support, particularly for those who have to pay for care themselves.

As a result of the study, the OFT has recommended that a national gateway for care home information should be established. The study also recommended that directories including information such as list of care homes, the services they provide and their prices be published by local authorities and that government guidance should be provided to local authorities to enable them to provide advice to all older people seeking residential care.

The study also found problems with the majority of contracts for self-funded care home residents. Two-thirds were found to have fee-related terms that were described as either unclear or unfair, while almost half were unclear as to who should pay what amount. The OFT has encouraged care home trade associations to draw up model contracts.

The study found that levels of satisfaction were “generally high” among residents once they were established in a care home, although it found that those wishing to complain often faced difficulties, such as low levels of awareness of complains procedures and a lack of support. The OFT recommended making more ‘user-friendly’ information on the complaints mechanisms available and piloting schemes where an independent advocate is provided to act on behalf of the complainant.

Launching the report, Sir John Vickers, OFT Chairman, said: “Choosing a care home is a life-changing decision often made under distressing and difficult circumstances. That makes it all the more important that good information – from both public authorities and care homes – is readily available to help older people and their families and that fair contracts and good complaints procedures are in place for residents.”

Over 400,000 older people currently receive residential and nursing care in the UK’s 15,700 private, voluntary and local authority care homes.

(KMcA)