Care Homes

Luciana Berger Excerpts

Thursday 1st May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Norman Lamb]

My hon. Friend makes a really important point. In ensuring that we have decent, civilised standards of care for older people, but also for people with learning disabilities and others in vulnerable positions, it cannot be any one party on its own that achieves that objective. It is a challenge for the whole of society, and we must recognise that. Government have their part to play in setting very clear standards and making it absolutely clear that where these standards are not met there are consequences. Through the integration pioneers that we have around the country, we are demonstrating that with better collaboration between statutory services and families, wider communities and neighbours, we can achieve better care for people. The state cannot do this on its own. It has a crucial role to play, but this is a challenge for the whole of society.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

I think the whole country was appalled last night when the BBC’s “Panorama” programme exposed the neglect and abuse of vulnerable older people at the hands of their carers. When older people and their families take a decision to move into residential care, they must be assured of high standards. Poor care must be stamped out and those responsible properly held to account.

First, I want to press the Minister on the specific case at Oban House. He will be aware that concerns were first raised about the home by whistleblowers back in 2012. What action was taken to address those concerns, and were they brought to the attention of Ministers? In its latest inspection in February, the Care Quality Commission reported that the home had too few staff and that some residents waited too long for staff to answer their calls. Will the Minister set out precisely what action was taken after those failures were highlighted back in February?

The Minister will be aware that following the awful abuse exposed by “Panorama”, a number of staff have been suspended, and HC-One has said it will increase staffing levels and improve training at the care home. However, is he fully satisfied that the safety and well-being of residents at Oban House is not still at risk?

This case raises serious questions about not only the inspection of care homes but the role of local councils. Councils and local authorities, which are much closer to care homes, should have a strong role in monitoring and driving up care standards. They should be the first safety net. Was it not a major error, therefore, to remove in the Care Bill the CQC’s powers to check that local councils are commissioning care services properly?

Care home bosses who fail to ensure that their residents are treated properly must face tough consequences. I heard what the Minister said about holding those bosses to account. My hon. Friend the Member for Blaenau Gwent (Nick Smith), as he outlined, proposed an amendment to the Care Bill to introduce a new criminal offence so that negligent care home owners can be fined or sent to jail. Is it not disappointing that the Government voted against that amendment?

In the first three years of this Parliament, social care budgets have been slashed by £1.8 billion. Yesterday, the growing abuse of zero-hours contracts, particularly in the care sectors, was revealed. Does the Minister accept that we will never get the standard of care that we aspire to from a social care system that has been cut to the bone? Should the coalition not revisit its brutal cuts to social care, which make such a situation more, not less, likely to occur?

This shocking case is yet another reminder that the time has come for a radical rethink of how we care for older people. These abuses must stop. How many more “Panorama” programmes exposing appalling cases such as at Oban House must we see before proper action is taken? Today, the Government must explain how they plan to prevent older people facing further abuse and indignity.

[Norman Lamb]

I thank the hon. Lady for those questions. I completely agree that unacceptable practices, and abuse and neglect, must be stamped out. I hope she is pleased that the Government are taking action to ensure that we can prosecute care providers who have allowed unacceptable practices. When I came into my job and had to respond to the scandal at Winterbourne View, the question I asked officials was, “What has happened to the company? How has it been held to account?” I was told that the Care Quality Commission could not prosecute because it had to serve a notice first, and if the company complied with the notice, nothing could be done.

A flawed regulatory regime was established when the CQC came into being. We are changing that so that providers of care can be prosecuted if they fail to meet fundamental standards of care. [Interruption.] I am answering the question. That is precisely what we are doing. The hon. Lady mentioned the issue of corporate accountability and corporate neglect, and that is exactly what we are addressing: we are giving the CQC the power to prosecute when there is corporate neglect.

We are also going further by introducing a fit-and-proper-person test so that every director of every care company will have to demonstrate that they are a fit and proper person. That should already be the case, but this is the first time it has happened. We are also introducing proper standards of training for all staff.

On the care home concerned, I hope it will be helpful if I write to the hon. Lady setting out the whole sequence of events and the entire timeline of the steps taken by the CQC. I commit to doing that in the next few days so that she will have the full picture.

We have made sure that the CQC is independent—we have strengthened its independence. We are introducing a far more robust inspection regime and we are addressing a problem. When the CQC was introduced by the Labour Government, the design of the inspection system was for generalist inspectors who might inspect hospitals one week and care homes the next. We are introducing specialist inspections. When inspectors go into a care home, they will talk to relatives, residents and staff, to get a much fuller picture of what is going on. Care homes will then be rated on their standards of care, so everyone will know what their local provider’s standards are.

I hope the hon. Lady will feel that real, substantial steps are being taken to address unacceptable standards of care and to ensure that people are properly held to account when bad things happen.