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Coronavirus: Care watchdog urged to re-start routine inspections of care homes and mental health units


A dozen charities and voluntary organisations have now called on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to re-start routine inspections of care homes and mental health units amid concerns about care of patients during the coronavirus pandemic.

The watchdog suspended its routine inspections of care providers on 16 March, but said it would inspect providers in “a very small number of cases” where it had concerns for patients such as allegations of abuse.

The CQC’s chief executive said the watchdog’s decision was designed in part to limit the spread of the disease but he added that since inspections were curtailed inspectors had maintained contact with providers and helped to source protective equipment for staff.

The Relatives and Residents Association, a national charity for older people in care and their relatives, has written to the CQC’s chief executive Ian Trenholm asking him to “urgently reconsider” the decision to stop inspections.

Edel Harris, chief executive of Mencap has also highlighted concerns for hundreds of children with learning disabilities who she said were detained in “modern-day asylums” adding: “Some families are rightly terrified about what might be happening to their loved ones behind closed doors. With family contact cut and CQC inspections reduced during lockdown, there is huge concern about who is making sure that some of the most vulnerable people in society are being kept safe and well during this national crisis.”

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Source: The Independent, 26 May 2020

 

 

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