Wales is set to become the first country in the UK to introduce
national minimum standards for the provision of community equipment
service.
The move would put equipment for older and disabled people,
including grab rails, pressure relieving mattresses and hoists, on
a par with services such as residential care in being formally
assessed by inspectors.
Currently, equipment services in Wales are jointly commissioned
by local authority and NHS partnerships and typically provided by
in-house "stores".
A Welsh government spokesperson said standards would be
developed in the next year, before being submitted to
ministers.
Review by ex-Welsh official
The government's decision follows an independent
report
published this year by its former national development officer for
equipment services, Brian Donnelly. This argued strongly for
the introduction of minimum standards in England and Wales.
Donnelly, now a consultant, said there was a raft of legal and
welfare requirements governing equipment, but few measures to
ensure compliance and no system for inspecting service quality.
He claimed commissioners were not adequately monitoring the
quality or safety of equipment, despite the huge potential costs of
failings, including more hospital admissions and higher risk of
entry into residential care.
£5.5bn cost
Donnelly calculated that if 1% of the 10 million pieces of
equipment issued each year in England and Wales were not delivered
correctly or at all, it would cost the economies £5.5bn.
A DH spokesperson said it had no plans to introduce minimum
standards in England though the issue would be kept under
review.
"There is already a range of legal and regulatory requirements
governing the provision of community equipment, including health
and safety legislation, medical devices regulation and consumer
protection legislation," she said. "These are explicit duties."
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