What is unsatisfactory care?
Find out what support is available to help you through an emotionally draining time.
Learn about funding options for care homes and care at home together with gifting assets, power of attorney and attendance allowance.
Understand how to deal with common concerns about elderly parents and other relatives, including dementia and falls.
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Dealing with unsatisfactory care What is unsatisfactory care?
Unsatisfactory care can cover a wide range of issues and so it is helpful to know what standards you can expect from a care home, care agency or the NHS and how to identify potential problems.
On this page you can find the following information 1. Standards to expect
2. National standards for care homes
3. Identifying problems
4. Abuse in care homes or at home Standards to expect You might think that a care home, care agency or NHS hospital is not providing the level of service that they should; there might be a specific incident that you are unhappy with; or your relative might seem unhappy, but you’re not sure of the exact reason. In extremely rare cases, you might have concerns about neglect or abuse. Help us improve care Have you had experience of a care home behaving in an unfair, unclear or misleading way? Have you found that a care home has had unexpected charges or fees, or unclear contract terms? Which? wants to hear about your experiences. Share your story using our tool. If you are concerned about unsatisfactory care of your relative, knowing your rights is a good starting point. Care homes, home care agencies and NHS hospitals must all be registered with their national regulatory body and meet the minimum standards that they set. The national watchdog in each country is: In England: the Care Quality Commission (CQC)
In Northern Ireland: the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA)
In Scotland: the Care Inspectorate
In Wales: the Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW) They are responsible for: setting national minimum standards for care homes, home care agencies and NHS services (hospitals and GPs)
monitoring and inspecting care homes to make sure that the services they provide come up to scratch.