The Media Makes Compliance in Care Homes Harder

27 May, 2014

At the moment there is a lot of focus on care homes as programmes such as Panorama have uncovered the cruelty behind closed doors. The trust of the British public is damaged and unfortunately every care home has been tarred with the same brush.

Even those that practice good standards and deliver excellent customer care are clouded in a veil of suspicion as they must prove their worth.

Andrea Sutcliffe the chief inspector for the care industry has revealed that she may follow the tactics of the undercover journalists by using secret cameras to infiltrate care homes secretly.

The new regulations will ensure that care homes meet the new standards for:

• Safety
• Care
• Efficiency
• Effectiveness
• Responsiveness to Resident’s Needs
• Management

This will replace the previous standards which simply rated on compliance or noncompliance.

Although shocking and worrying for many care homes, these standards are long overdue. This doesn’t stop those with nothing to hide from worrying about the investigation though, so what will?

The new standards will rate care homes in the same way as schools from poor to outstanding. Many care homes could find themselves closed down if they don’t pass the inspections while managers may be faced with some nasty surprises.

One way to ensure every aspect of a care home is working in harmony, all aiming for the same high standards is to implement the ISO 9001. Already the CQC have recommended implementation of ISO 9001 as it demonstrates effective management skills, compliance and self-auditing along with a continued effort to improve.

As inspections are set to begin in a few months, care homes are advised to implement the ISO 9001 now. This will remove any nasty surprises and allow care homes to identify any areas that need improvement before the inspection begins.

An effective management system ensures everyone works from the same sheet and could make the difference between staying open for business or being closed down.

This is what our clients in the care home sector think about the ISO 9001:2008

‘The ISO 9001:2008 model provides an effective means of monitoring our existing procedures and has helped us to develop a more structured process in certain areas’.

– Merseycare Julie Ann Ltd

For more information on the ISO 9001:2008 Quality management system, please contact us on 01905 670 303 or email admin@isoqsltd.com

We look forward to hearing from you…