We support, inform and speak on behalf of older people in care
5 October 2018: The R&RA is alarmed at the proposals by the Department of Health and Social Care to remove some basic safeguards and radically change the independent element when care home residents lack mental capacity. The Mental Capacity (Amendment) Bill* now going through Parliament leaves those residents with restricted mental capacity more open to abuse. These vulnerable residents now form an increasingly high […] Read More...
The long hot summer of 2018 has bought temperatures across the country that look set to be record breaking while social media has been used to remind us that in the UK we are rarely happy with the weather! And, as the parliamentary recess starts and MPs go on holiday, the new Secretary of State […] Read More...
25 July 2018: We in the Relatives & Residents Association (the R&RA) completely understand why so many people call for CCTV, like Dominic Grieve, it is a normal gut reaction to stories of terrible abuse. But making CCTV mandatory in communal areas will not stop the abuse or neglect that predominantly happens in a resident’s […] Read More...
16 July 2018: David Barton, owner and manager of Barton Park Nursing Home, was sentenced to 21 years in prison on Friday. He had abused his position of trust as a registered owner by defrauding residents, using cruel and heartless tactics to manipulate them and exploit their worst fears. CQC, the regulator, should pay greater […] Read More...
5 July 2018 – Today is the 70th anniversary of the “Appointed Day” when the National Health Service Act 1946 and the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1947 were brought into force on 5 July 1948. Creating the free universal National Health Service amid austerity and the aftermath of the second world war was an […] Read More...
22 June 2018: The ‘postponement’ of the Green Paper is a further blow to the Adult Social Care sector. There is a mixture of depression and anger in the reaction so far. Optimists surmise that things can only get better… Pessimists point out that a mere four weeks before its planned publication, there appears to […] Read More...
19 June 2018: The recent announcement heralding a brave new world for the NHS was sadly short-lived. Almost before the IFS (Institute of Fiscal Studies) could rubbish its rash promise of a Brexit dividend, it was deemed ‘tosh’ by Tory MP and Chair of the Health Select Committee, Sarah Wollaston. Others weren’t slow in joining […] Read More...
Blog Post by Des Kelly OBE, R&RA Trustee 25 May 2018: The report published this week by the Alzheimer’s Society ‘Dementia – the true cost: fixing the care crisis’ has a refreshing emphasis on action rather than analysis. The report seeks to ‘turn up the volume of the voices of people affected by dementia who […] Read More...
I’ll be honest from the outset – I probably haven’t given the issue of oral health in care settings as much thought as I now realise I should have! The presentation by Katy Kerr, Regional Dental Adviser at Health Education England, at the Relatives & Residents Association (R&RA) Annual Conference held as usual at The […] Read More...
give the care workforce the attention it requires, so that the sector has the right people to provide consistently safe and high-quality care. 15 March 2018: The Chancellor’s statement continued to ignore the plight of older people needing care. This is despite the growing mountain of evidence from the National Audit Office (NAO), among many […] Read More...