The Quality Care Campaign (QCC) initiative is launching today with a mission to improve the quality of care received by people who use social care services. The launch of the QCC initiative coincides with the publication of a government Green Paper on improving social care, which is due in June 2018.
Run as a collaboration between Care England, recognised social care experts and a leading care home inspector, QCC aims to recognise and highlight instances of exceptional care whilst simultaneously challenging local commissioners and policy makers to deliver high quality care services in line with the Care Act 2012.
In 2017, research commissioned by Independent Age (a charity providing advice and support for older age), found that 90% of MPs in England believed that the social system is both unfit for purpose and unable to deal with the UK’s ageing population. The charity also reported that at least 20 local authorities in England were ignoring the Care Quality Commission’s ratings and placing people in poor quality homes.
Professors Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England says:
“Everyone within QCC is passionate about establishing the best ways of delivering of the highest possible standards of care and outcomes for those in the social care system. In line with Care England’s ‘funding for quality’ strategy, QCC advocates that quality rather than cost is the most important part of social care provision, supported by independent third party verification. It is up to the care sector to drive quality into all areas of social care provision to ensure value for money and avert an impending crisis.”
Currently, approximately 70% of people living in residential care homes are funded by local authorities. Pressures on an already stretched social care system are set to increase further, with the number of people aged 85 or over is set to double by 2030 when compared to 2010. Similarly, the current funding gap of £1.5bn is projected to nearly double within the next three years.
Martin Green continues:
“Care providers are under increasing pressure to retain staff, maintain quality and stay in business, all whilst providing high standards of care to a growing number of patients. QCC strongly believes that the best way to both assess and assure the quality of care services is through regular inspections, which themselves are underpinned by examination and validation from an independent, recognised authority. In addition to reducing the number of inspection visits by the regulator, adopting this approach could lead to lower annual fees for people whilst providing care homes with independent evidence of their performance.”
