Privacy and Dignity in Care

You said: you were worried about privacy and dignity in care homes.
We did: We have visited over 20 homes raising awareness and checking standards.

The Privacy and Dignity in Care project started with a 'Dignity Action Event' in April 2010. This was an interactive workshop with participants from Care Homes, members of the public and professionals attending to raise awareness of the Department of Health's - Dignity in Care? challenge.

Following this event LINk decided that they would survey staff around their understanding of privacy and dignity for themselves and their residents. Over 200 surveys were sent out, however due to a poor return rate LINk decided to visit local Care Homes. The decision on which homes to visit was made after noting the return rate of the questionnaires and where concerns had been highlighted from the local community.

The project was conducted by teams of 3-4 LINk members and 20 Care Homes have been visited to date. One Care Home was referred to the CQC for Adult Safeguarding concerns.

On arrival at a Care Home the LINk team would record the structural integrity, cleanliness, and the level of personalisation of the resident's rooms (on invitation by the occupier) and communal living areas. Members spoke to residents and relatives on how they felt about privacy and dignity, and if it was recognised within the Home. Staff ratios were noted, as well as the range of activities organised by staff for their residents, including day trips.
The team discovered that to staff: dignity means respect, equality, and protection from embarrassment, for both the service user and care staff.

Unfortunately the majority of staff gave poor responses when asked if they felt valued and if the rate of pay was good. Comments from the relatives were mixed. However, the common themes for maintaining privacy and dignity in homes, was the staff and the cleanliness of the Home.

The majority of the staff were aware of Privacy and Dignity in Care and what it entails and tried their best to implement such practices. However they identified that they felt that the staffing ratio did not allow them to fully care for each resident individually to meet all their personal needs.

Recommendations made by the LINk members varied for each individual Care Home. However there were two main recommendations made to the majority of the Homes visited.
1) To request a visit from the Falls Prevention Team to give a presentation about falls; repairs and replacements on equipment the residents used such as walking frames.
2) Improvement on activities and day trips for residents.
This recommendation was an issue noticed by the LINk team, as well as some relatives visiting residents. Improved activities and day trips allow residents to maintain their individuality, which is recognised as being an important factor in maintaining dignity.

The Care Homes were requested to send in written responses following the visit and report provided by the LINk team identifying any changes they may have made and what they have done about the recommendations made. Almost all the Care Homes have replied with a suitable update outlining what they have done in accordance with the recommendations or given a reasonable explanation as to why they have not complied with the recommendations.

All reports have been shared with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

This important piece of work will be continued by LINk members in 2011/2012.

To read our report please click here.