Commission wins judge’s backing

A senior judge has backed the Commission for Social Care Inspection’s right to assess providers against outcomes through the national minimum standards when investigating whether they have broken regulations.

The comments from Administrative Court judge Mr Justice Kay came as he dismissed an appeal from a care home against a ruling that it broke regulations on medication.

Brooklyn House, in Attleborough, Norfolk, owned by Caring Homes, had taken the action after magistrates found it had failed to comply with regulations. The case followed allegations made by the commission.

The home appealed against the commission’s power to prosecute, disproportionate costs (the home had been ordered to pay 25,000 in legal costs to the commission) and the right of the commission to assess against national minimum standards and for courts to take this into account. But it failed on all counts.

The commission welcomed the result, particularly the confirmation of its outcomes-based approach.