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Fuss-free care checks
• THE Labour opposition on Islington Council has received a lot of publicity recently for its idea of councillors making unannounced spot checks on residential care homes (Why it pays to see first-hand how elderly are looked after, February 8). Superficially, the idea seems attractive, but a moment’s serious thought shows it to be deeply flawed. I would like to explain to readers the reasons why we will not be adopting it.
First, as my Lib Dem colleague, Councillor Kelly Peasnell, a qualified social worker, pointed out, abuse isn’t easy to spot (Spotting abuse, February 1). Islington’s care homes are run to very high standards and are regularly inspected (on both planned and unannounced visits) by professional inspectors who know the standards which should be maintained and can spot lapses when they occur.
To think, as Councillor Catherine West seems to do, that unqualified councillors will be able walk out of their Town Hall meetings, waltz into a care home on an unannounced visit and rescue residents from abuse is naïve and arrogant.
Second, care homes are the homes of the people who live there. Under my leadership, Islington social services are promoting the dignity of our older people. Having Cllr West burst unannounced into people’s homes is an invasion of privacy and a very undignified way to treat our older citizens.
I shouldn’t allow her to make unannounced spot checks on my home and I don’t expect Islington’s older people to be forced to do so either.
Finally, as part of its ongoing campaign against local democracy, Cllr West’s Labour government took away local councils’ statutory powers of inspection of care homes in 2002 and centralised them in a quango. Even if we wanted to implement her idea, Blair and Brown have abolished our power to do so.
This isn’t to say that councillors should not build a relationship with care homes in their ward. As lead member for health and adult social care, I have responsibility for all social services throughout the borough, but I take a particular interest in the services provided in my ward and ask to visit them frequently.
I know many of my Liberal Democrat colleagues do the same, without fuss, as part of our daily work as councillors. I am sure that if Labour councillors dropped their posturing about acting as inspectors and followed our example they would be welcomed to visit the care homes in their own wards.
Cllr John Gilbert
Lib Dem executive member for health and adult social care
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