Care homes closed to protect residents’ safety

We have closed 34 care homes and eight care agencies over the past 12 months to protect residents’ safety. These closures took place in the run up to the full licensing of all health and adult social care providers on the 1 October.
Six of these providers closed after we issued legal notices, whilst the others closed following our enforcement action.

Reasons for closures included:
• verbal and psychological abuse of residents
• medicines not being managed safely
• lack of medical and nursing care
• illegal staff members
• poor sanitary conditions
• lack of staff training

Residents at these services have now been moved to other care homes with better standards.

These closures only represent a small fraction of the 24,000 services in England. The majority of care homes and agencies provide good care and respond positively to areas where they should improve.

Care homes and agencies are now regulated under The Health and Social Care Act 2008, which comes into force on 1 October. The act introduces new essential standards of quality and safety that everyone can expect when they receive care.

The new system will, for the first time, bring the NHS, independent health care and social care providers under the same inspection regime and standards. Our range of enforcement powers include on-the-spot fines, warning notices, suspension of registration, prosecution and closure.