"Major cultural shift" called for to stamp out undignified care

A ‘Delivering Dignity’ report has been released today by the Commission on Improving Dignity in Care for Older People, which has called for a ‘major cultural shift’ to be achieved within care homes and hospitals on tackling issues related to poor and undignified care.

The Commission is an independent group established by a collaboration between the NHS Confederation, charity Age UK, and the Local Government Association.

In looking to establish ‘basic rules’ for care providers to pursue, the Commission is arranging for a copy of the report to be sent to every NHS and care home chief executive in England, with an action plan to follow later in the year detailing practical measures to achieve the ‘cultural shift’.

In support of the new recommendations, director of internal affairs at the Alzheimer’s Society, Andrew Chidgey, comments:

“It is vitally important that anyone in hospital or a care home can be confident they will be treated with dignity and receive good quality care. People with dementia account for a quarter of hospital inpatients and two-thirds of care home residents. With half of people with dementia leaving hospital in worse health than when they arrived, we know that often the care is currently not good enough. Lack of training in dementia is a major reason behind this.

“We hope that the recommendations in ‘Delivering Dignity’ will help improve care by offering practical advice to hospitals and care homes, helping them to improve standards and change attitudes towards people living with dementia.”