Reporting on an eventful week for the care industry

There is no way of getting round the fact that the care sector has experienced a tumultuous week, being the subject of poor watchdog ratings, embroiled in the financial turmoil of its largest provider and the focus of an Independent Commission that seems poised to advise Government that the entire population needs to contribute to a new tax levy. All this and, of course, the shock and disgust of BBC viewers to Tuesday night’s Panorama documentary that went undercover to reveal the abuse occurring at Bristol’s Winterbourne Care Home, the reaction to which seems to have swept up all in its path.

The Care Quality Commission already had the national media’s attention on Monday, as attention grew upon the regulator’s damning report into general health and nutrition in care homes that suggests one in seven of the UK’s residential homes are failing to achieve adequate standards. Tabloid journalists were rife with speculation of a ‘crisis in care’, with a rapidly ageing demographic and many local councils making public sector cuts all adding fuel to a growing fire. Professionals working in the care sector itself might have reflected that such a reality was exactly what health experts and campaigners have been warning of for many years now, but media momentum was set in motion nevertheless and was about to go into overdrive.

The future of Southern Cross Healthcare, currently responsible for 730 care homes and with such a market presence that it contributes provision to every UK region, has been a major source of uncertainty since the Credit Crunch hit in October 2008. Back then, when collapse seemed a real possibility, many were speculating that the Labour Government would have no choice but to follow the same bailout route it had taken on the nation’s failing banks. The company’s finances may have since found leeway but its stability was never assured and over the last few weeks the Coalition Government has been asked the same question. Until this week, ministers’ comments have focused upon helping Southern Cross to achieve a long-term solution and the company itself has maintained that thousands of elderly people will not suddenly be left without care or accommodation.

Despite this, tensions have grown this week, with less than a month remaining before the deadline creditors have set the company expires, exasperated by the company’s announcement that it has proceeded with cuts to rent payments without the essential agreement from landlords it had been seeking. Nervous elderly campaigners, charities and trade unions are putting pressure on the Coalition to restore service users’ confidence in their care needs by declaring they have a back-up plan should the provider not achieve a solution. A horizon of uncertainty seems to be in view on what will occur should this actually be the case, with the Government unable to confirm what, if any, emergency funding would be available, what the responsibility of local authorities would be in safeguarding their elderly and whether thousands of care workers will instantly use their jobs. The Welsh Assembly has this week confirmed that it will not use taxpayers’ money to bail out its own 34 Southern Cross homes, though as with Westminster it remains unclear whether the devolved governments themselves have a specific action plan in hand.

So, if the media did not already have enough to get their teeth into, by Tuesday evening they would find public anxiety over care standards moving faster than newspaper reports could keep up with, after the BBC aired its Panorama documentary ‘Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed’. By the following evening the documentary was leading the national TV headlines and many of the tabloid front pages, compared by many to stories of abuse we would typically associate with Victorian times, the reaction of those sickened and alarmed has overwhelmed many social networking sites and drawn condemnation from all areas of public life. So intense was the anger to the bullying that had been secretly recorded that at least one care home has reported being the target of verbal abuse and threats through being mistaken for the building in question, despite its name and location being clearly stated.

Had the CQC been attempting to appear progressive with its earlier nutrition report, the regulator might later have reflected that it has been its own worst enemy in light of today’s announcement by Care Services Minister Paul Burstow that its regulatory practices will now be a matter for full investigation by the Health Committee. Interviewed in the documentary, Regional Director Ian Biggs admitted that three separate attempts by a former care worker of Winterbourne View to draw the regulator’s attention to the abuse occurring there had resulted in no action, instead it has taken the press attention of an undercover investigation to ensure this abuse case is now being treated seriously. The CQC itself is a young body, formed in 2009 to rejuvenate care services, it has set about overhauling established registration and inspection systems in order to achieve regulation that suits a modern and growing care industry. Although as much of its language has seemed amenable, the regulator has clashed with a number of care associations over its direction and many care providers announced their frustrations over losing hard-earned star ratings when they were asked to re-register last October – the benefits of which still remain unclear. Though it could be argued to be unhelpful to write off a relatively new regulator so soon, this lack of response to clear indications of abuse has alarming parallels to the tragic case of Baby Peter and the failure of social services to act, and would suggest there may be major consequences ahead for the Commission.

The Government’s one cause for comfort over the issue of elderly care is that they are not faced with having to resort to reactionary politics, as they have in fact been ahead of the national media on the challenges of an ageing population and are awaiting the Dilnot Independent Commission to report on its conclusions next month. It is hoped that Dilnot will provide fresh direction for the UK’s care needs, even if ministers are faced with having to vote on a new tax levy or insurance that, though entirely necessary, might not be welcomed by voters already incensed by public sector spending cuts. The voice of the care community, however, will fully support reform sooner rather than later, with an alliance of organisations, including Age UK and Bupa, having sent an open letter this week to party leaders David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Milliband urging the parties to put aside political differences in order to agree on new care legislation.