Failing care homes in Staffordshire named and shamed

Failing care homes in Staffordshire will be named and shamed under new plans revealed today. County council bosses will expose homes where contracts have been suspended due to concerns over standards.

"Mystery-shopper" style visits are also proposed. It forms part of a two-year review of adult social care by county hall chiefs. Matthew Ellis, the council's member for adults wellbeing, said the proposals would shape the quality of care for the next generation.

Councillor Ellis said: "There has been a lot of debate nationally about quality of care, but the time for talking is over.

"It is more than time we took action to demonstrate as a country that we truly value the elderly and more vulnerable members of our community and that we value too the people who we entrust with their care.

"Families need to make informed choices and it is disgraceful, for example, that it is easier to find out about complaints regarding your local take-away than it is on a company caring for a loved one.

"We also need to move away from the "menial" pay mindset and promote caring as a well paid career choice if we are serious about improving the whole experience of care in the UK."

Recommendations in the green paper include publicising organisations that have received upheld complaints or where the council has suspended contracts. Such information would be found on the council's website.

Bosses also aim to reward so-called "providers of excellence" and foster a zero-tolerance policy for those who fail to improve.

The Government, MPs, NHS and community stakeholders will be asked to give their views as part of a consultation process.

Councillor Ellis added: "We already deliver some of the highest standards of adult care in the UK, but we think it is time to get even tougher with the minority of providers who fail to deliver the quality of care which families not only expect, but have an absolute right to."