Failing care homes not reinspected within a year

"Care homes that are graded as inadequate or requiring improvement are often not being reinspected for a year or more, a BBC investigation has found. More than 2,100 care homes in England as of October this year were rated as "requires improvement" by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) - but the BBC found three quarters of those had not been reinspected within a year or more."

"Lugh Baker died at Rosewood House care home in Launceston, Cornwall, in 2021. A coroner found failings in relation to his care plan and gaps in monitoring after his death, which remains unexplained. The CQC inspected in 2022 and 2023, telling the home it needed to make improvements, but it has not been back to inspect since. Mr Baker's mother, Trudy Polkinghorn, and sister, Erin Baker, said they felt "despair" and were disappointed in the regulator."

Over 2,100 care homes in England were rated "requires improvement" as of October, and three quarters of those had not been reinspected within a year. Of 123 homes rated "inadequate," one in five had not been reinspected within the same timeframe. At least one home rated inadequate in 2022 has not been reinspected despite reports of residents at risk of pressure sores, infection, dehydration and chemical exposure. Families reported uncertainty about whether improvements occurred; a coroner found care failings in one death. The CQC says it has been regularly monitoring services and removed previous mandatory reinspection timeframes when it changed its inspection approach.

Read at www.bbc.com