Improved Healthcare For Care Home Residents In Sight

Care England, the largest representative body for independent providers of adult social care, has responded to a consultation on specifications for Structured Medication Reviews (SMRs) and Optimisation and Enhanced Health in Care Homes (EHCH).

Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, says:

“We believe that the health needs of care home residents are not always properly met by the NHS and that residents are entitled to the same access to NHS services as any other citizen living in local communities. The care, experience, knowledge, empathy and skills of care home staff have also been ignored for too long and as such we welcome the involvement, as partners, of care home staff in delivering the outcomes outlined in these specifications”.

Care England is hopeful that the EHCH and SMR specifications will mean that residents get better access to their GPs and other healthcare professionals.

Martin Green continues:

“We believe the evidence from the Enhanced Healthcare in Care Home Vanguard Projects[i] and the resulting framework shows that not only do residents get a better quality of life from improved access to primary and community services, but there are benefits for the whole health and care system as a result of fewer hospital admissions for example. As such we look forward to seeing the proposals in these new specifications being implemented.”