Well done Panorama, on an excellent misrepresentation of homecare

Well done Panorama, on an excellent misrepresentation of homecare

By Jennifer Roberts

www.caringforyourbusiness.co.uk

The Panorama special (‘Britain’s Homecare Scandal’, April 9 2009) said it was ‘going undercover’ to learn more about the state of homecare in Britain. As a nurse with over 20 years’ experience in the homecare field, I eagerly awaited the programme.

In my naivety, I believed that it would at last highlight the many issues that the sector faces in caring for our ever increasing elderly population within their own homes. I hoped that the contracting process would come under scrutiny – highlighting to the general public exactly how much councils are prepared to pay for elderly care homecare services.

I hoped that the cost of training to deliver a high quality service that meets today’s standards would be raised. And finally, whilst expecting to see some horror stories, I hoped that there would also be some positive examples of successful home care cases, ones that have enriched people’s lives and maintained their independence in the home that they love and do not want to leave.

Sadly this was not the case. I felt that viewers would go away with the idea that independent, voluntary and charitable organisations are only interested in how much money they can make out of the elderly. The other side of this story that is happening every day up and down this country is that organisations are subsidising our local authorities by using reserves built up through legacies and donations to maintain services for which authorities refuse to pay the basic cost of delivery.

But for these silent, honourable people, valuable services such as day care, respite care, supporting people to go to church and attending social activities (all of which maintain their quality of life) would be cut.

When investigating the state of homecare, surely we should look at all aspects of the service, not just the independent providers. What about investigating the local authorities who are responsible for the contracting and commissioning of services?

As for the ‘e-auctions’ highlighted in the programme, who set these up? Was that the independent sector? What did the councils think were going to be the outcome of such an exercise? And what message does that send to the general public about how much they value elderly care, when they turn it into an auction?

Many excellent providers do not enter such a system because they know that it is not the best way to deliver a service. What about the funding for homecare? Should we not ask the government how much funding is being given to support the many changes that the sector is undergoing? What about the regulators? Should we not ask what costs are attached to delivering the services according to the standards? What about the in-house services? Should we not ask why they are costed at £22.00 per hour? And why are these services being transferred to the independent sector? Is it not the case that councils want the lowest price they can get away with?

Well done Panorama, on an excellent misrepresentation of the homecare sector. If you could not investigate the local authorities, the funding structure and the regulators in the same way as you went about the independent sector, you should have a least had a debate after the programme and invite representation from the regulators, directors of social services, charitable and voluntary organisations and the many representative groups from the independent sector such as the UKHCA and Scottish Care at Home.

The general public may then have had a balanced view of homecare in Britain – and perhaps they could determine the people properly accountable and demand change.

Jennifer Roberts

www.caringforyourbusiness.co.uk

Roberts Consultants, specialists in developing homecare businesses

1. Gertrude Gamons Says:
   May 20th, 2010 at 9:49 am

   It is my first post on this blog and firstly I would like to thank you for the useful information, which I found in this and all previous posts. It really helped me very much. I will definitely include this blog on my google reader.

2. Kim Kardashian Website Official Says:
   July 27th, 2010 at 12:55 pm

   Excellent post. I want to thank you for this informative read, I really appreciate sharing this great post. Keep up your work. . . .

3. mbt shoes Says:
   August 3rd, 2010 at 6:51 pm

   Thank you for your great

   content.

4. registry cleaner reviews Says:
   August 5th, 2010 at 8:55 am

   Good article Thank you so much

5. Blog Guide reviews Says:
   December 10th, 2010 at 12:47 pm

   Great site! You have some very interesting thoughts keep up the good writing.

6. uk cancer research Says:
   January 6th, 2011 at 5:19 am

   Thanks for the website loaded with a lot of information.

7. kent jobs part time Says:
   March 12th, 2011 at 7:06 am

   Thanks For This Blog, was added to my bookmarks.