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WQ.455/2020
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
BY DEPUTY M.R. HIGGINS OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 30th NOVEMBER 2020
Question
Will the Minister advise members whether the Jersey Care Commission has visited all Jersey care homes in 2020 and, if not, will he state how many it has visited and when it is expected that all the homes will have been visited; and will he outline the main findings from the visits that have been carried out to date?
Answer
I have liaised with the Jersey Care Commission on this matter and have been provided the following information.
Due to the Covid-19 situation earlier in the year, the Commission's programme of scheduled inspections was suspended between 17 March and 10 June. This was in accordance with the Regulation of Care (Standards and Requirements) (Covid-19 – Temporary Amendments) (Jersey) Regulations 2020, which expired on 30 September 2020. The suspension of the programme of inspections during this period meant that 22 care homes were not inspected as planned. Commission staff kept in regular contact with care home providers and managers and sought assurances in relation to a range of aspects of care provision.
As of 26 November, the Commission has undertaken inspection visits to 40 registered care homes in Jersey. This includes all seven care homes for children and young people. In addition, Commission staff have undertaken site visits to nine care homes carried on by the Government of Jersey, in preparation for their registration.
There are a further 15 inspections of care homes scheduled to be undertaken before the end of 2020. The scheduled inspections of eight care homes have been deferred to early 2021.
Inspection visits have focussed on the homes' arrangements for safeguarding, complaints management, staffing arrangements and quality monitoring. The findings of inspections to date include evidence of effective arrangements in place to maintain acceptable standards of care during the pandemic. The Commission expects care providers to undertake their own assessment of the quality of care provided to ensure the home is being operated in accordance with its registration requirements. Establishing and embedding this regular review is an area for improvement for several care providers.
The arrangements in place to support care receivers to maintain contact with their relatives and friends during the lockdown period were also examined and it was encouraging to note the range of innovative and compassionate methods used to achieve this. Feedback from care receivers and their representatives has been mainly positive in respect of their experience.
A further finding from inspections has been the resilience of care staff and evidence of effective leadership.
Where areas for improvement have been identified, care providers have demonstrated their commitment to securing necessary improvements and the Commission will follow these up.
There have been significant shortfalls in the staffing arrangements in some of the registered children's homes. These matters have been escalated by the Commission to Children's Services and improvement plans will remain under review.
The Commission has been publishing reports of inspections of all regulated activities since August 2020 and there are reports of 21 care home inspections on the Commission's website.
In regard to the JCC's comments on registered children's homes, I have also consulted the Children's Services who added that these shortfalls were exacerbated by Covid-19'.
I have since been informed by the JCC that of the nine care homes operated by HSS, six care homes are currently unregistered as required under the law. The current situation is unsatisfactory, and I will be liaising with the Minister for Health and Social Services on this matter.