Scots regulator in chaos say providers

Service providers in Scotland have accused the body responsible for
regulating care services of being in a state of chaos and failing
to reduce inconsistencies.

Jim Proctor, vice-chairperson of Scottish Care, said the Scottish
Commission for the Regulation of Care, which replaced a number of
systems of inspection in April 2002, had been introduced to produce
consistency.

“Instead there are standards which have the status of guidelines
and there is still inconsistency,” he said.

There was also a problem with staffing care homes because no-one
was clear what the correct staff-to-resident ratio was and it
continued to vary “from place to place”.

Proctor added that standards were being pursued without concern for
cost. “There is no dialogue about what fees people should be
paying. Also, the local authorities are the paymasters and, since
they still run their own homes, there is a clear conflict of
interest.”

Allan Keir, chairperson of an association of care homes in Angus,
said the commission was run by social workers who knew little about
inspecting homes.

“Many of the original inspectors took severance pay,” he said. “The
new staff have more work to do, but little experience of
inspections.

“The commission works well when homes are of a good standard. But
people are concerned that poor homes are not receiving the
attention they did under local authorities. And that means
vulnerable people are more at risk.”

But the commission rejected the criticisms. A spokesperson said a
number of consistency forums had already been set up. “It will take
time to establish consistency of practice across the country.”