Enforcement action against care providers by inspectors falls

Enforcement actions against care providers by the Commission for Social Care Inspection fell by 18 per cent in 2005-6, CSCI’s annual report said today.

It took action 7,786 times in 2005-6 compared with 9,514 times in 2004-5. Urgent actions fell from 4,488 to 3,750, and prosecutions from eight to five, four of which resulted in penalties.

The commission said it needed to do further research to decide whether this was the result of improved performance.

Providers also faced fewer complaints in 2005-6, with just under 18,000, down from almost 21,000 in 2004-5.

But the proportions of complaints based on care practice (25 per cent), staffing (24 per cent) and abuse (13 per cent) were similar to last year.

Just 5 per cent of complaints were from service users, compared with 41 per cent from carers or relatives, 11 per cent from staff and 6 per cent from social workers or placing staff.