Care Services Minister, Paul Burstow, aims to develop a ‘TripAdvisor’ style online guide to replace the old CQC star rating system for social care providers. The idea is that care users and their relatives will add ratings and feedback from their own experiences to the site in order to provide a realistic buying tool for those looking for care.

Paul Burstow said: “It can’t be right that you can find out exactly what a hotel or restaurant is like, in just a short time searching the web, but people have so much trouble working out the standards of different care homes and home care providers – when that choice is so much more important.”

We certainly feel that feedback based on real life experience is far more valuable than an official rating system and gives a greater insight than just a set of minimum standards. Are you a care users or do you know someone who is? If so, we would love to hear from you; do you think this would be useful and do you think you would participate in giving feedback? Comment below or email info@you2choose.co.uk.

‘When Brian Bailey, 73, had a nasty fall after contracting a urinary tract infection, his family rang 999. But instead of being whisked into hospital, he was assessed and treated at home and a plan was put in place for his rehabilitation without him needing to leave his own front door.

Elsewhere, Bailey would have found himself in A&E and then being monitored on a hospital ward. But he lives in Southend, where the local health and social care agencies are doing things rather differently.

Meeting the care needs of older people is the biggest long-term challenge facing the NHS and local government.

Experts agree that far too many older people end up in hospital unnecessarily. A recent report by spending watchdog, the Audit Commission, found that while there are more than 2,500 emergency admissions a year for every 10,000 people aged 65 or over – a ratio higher than one in four – some parts of England have admissions as high as 3,700 per 10,000. After allowing for local factors, some areas have up to 50% more admissions than would be expected.

South-east Essex, comprising Southend, Castle Point and Rochford, used to have a high rate. In 2008-09, there were 9,624 admissions into acute care of people aged 65 or over at a cost of £22.8m. Forecast spending for this year is £21.5m and admissions are 20% down on 2010.

It’s a remarkable change and, judging by Bailey’s experience, a popular one. “I’ve had the most wonderful help,” he says. “Everyone has been truly marvellous.” His wife, Pam, adds: “The hospital is a great place if they can make you better, but it isn’t the right place for Brian.”

Following that 999 call, an emergency care practitioner (ECP) was first on the scene at the Baileys’ home in Shoeburyness. He diagnosed the infection and summoned the therapy and recovery team, which arrived within 20 minutes. Bailey’s needs were identified and an action plan agreed.

With the help of regular visits from a physiotherapist and other professionals, and using equipment installed by the team, Bailey is working towards weekly rehabilitation targets and his ultimate goal of being able once again to get upstairs to his own bed.

Taking account of all strands of the programme, including fewer admissions to residential care, a total saving of £7.3m was initially forecast for 2011-12 across south-east Essex. That has been revised down to £3.8m, partly because the hospital admissions that have been avoided so far have typically been relatively low-cost. Fewer admissions of more complex cases, such as stroke, have been avoided than had been anticipated.

The programme is now being adjusted to place more emphasis on dealing with cases of greater complexity in the community. A joint commissioning strategy across health and social care is planned for next year, with budgets on each side aligned as a step towards the funds being pooled fully.’

The UK Homecare Association (UKHCA) welcomed this report as an important contribution to safeguarding the well-being of people who use home-based care. They believe that the problems are resulting from a reduction in visit time and staff wages, therefore reducing the flexibility of the care provided – and also staff morale.

A statement on the UKHCA website said: “One in four careworkers speaking to EHRC raised the length of time they had with people for whom they care as a concern. This is almost entirely a result of Councils reducing the amount of service they fund and the impossibly low rates they pay for very short homecare visits, which do not permit sufficient flexibility when more care is required. Last week UKHCA took the unprecedented move of writing to every council in England and Wales drawing attention to the increasingly difficult conditions imposed on the sector, which are leading providers to consider using the courts as a final resort to address inadequate funding.”

EHRC commissioner Baroness Sally Greengross, who led the report commented: “One of the ways to stop it continuing is to close the loophole, which means that any care that’s commissioned by a local authority or another public body should come under the Human Rights Act so people are protected from abuse.”

Councillor John Merry, of the Local Government Association, said: “These results are symptomatic of a social care system that is under-funded and in need of urgent reform. The longer ministers procrastinate, the more our population ages and the worse things will become.”

So, will this report prevent the home care problem getting any worse in the future?

Community Care (www.communitycare.co.uk) explains: ‘The riots have depleted an ambulance service that takes dementia patients to day centres after a gang torched one vehicle and badly scorched another.

The damage will cost Age Concern Leicester Shire and Rutland up to £45,000, which it may not be able to raise.

The gang threw a petrol bomb at one of two 17-seat specially-converted vehicles that were among a fleet of 10 vans of varying sizes belonging to the charity.

Chief executive Tony Donovan said users were anxious, confused and worried for their safety with some not wanting to come into day centres today, fearing they had been the gang’s target.

Even if it does raise enough for a converted van, it will take up to three months for the new vehicle to be ready.

Most of the clients are in the critical care banding and find change difficult, said Donovan. Many are so frail that, without the service, they would be in residential care.

Age UK said other local charities were affected by the violence. On Monday, Age UK Croydon’s offices in south London were ransacked, causing £20,000 damage.

Have you or your business been effected by the riots this week? If so we would love to hear from you, email enquiries@you2choose.com or comment below.

‘Families with disabled children should be offered more personal budgets to ease the transition between children’s and adults services, a sector expert told delegates at the CIPFA conference on social care finance today.

“I strongly advise children’s services to look into some element of personal budgets because some experience of personal budgets before entering adults’ services would be positive for families and would build confidence in the system,” said Caroline Highwood, an independent social care consultant who recently retired as Kent’s director of resources in adults’ services.

However, Highwood warned practitioners they had to be very careful when discussing these options with families as any suspicion of cost-saving motives could create insurmountable barriers.

“It’s a conversation you have to be very careful with,” she told delegates. “Families cannot believe you’re offering a lower-cost service just because of local authority cuts. That will put up some major barriers. The family needs to see that this is in the best interest of the young person. Otherwise, you’re going to get placards outside the town hall.”

Highwood also said practitioners must be aware of the sudden change in attitude some families experience from services during a transition.

“From a family perspective, children’s disabilities services are what you might call a deficit model,” she said. “When families need to get services for their child, they have to argue, ‘This and this are what little Johnny can’t do’. In adults’ services, the best services are predicated on, ‘What can you do with support?’

“During the transition, after 18 years of saying ‘little Johnny can’t…’ there can be a bit of a gap,” she said.’

What do you think? Feel free to comment below or email enquiries@you2choose with your thoughts.

The much anticipated Dilnot Review was published on Monday, suggesting a cap of £35,000 on the amount that any individual should contribute to their own elderly care. The Guardian (www.theguardian.co.uk) describes the finding in more detail.

“The commission set out a plan by which no one would have to pay more than 30% of their savings and assets towards meeting their needs. As well as the proposed cap, it suggested raising the limit on assets a person may hold while qualifying for state help from £23,250 to £100,000.”

Although the Government has described the findings as a good starting point, Andrew Lansley has announced there will be a further process of consultation before any decisions are made.

However, Community Care (www.communitycare.co.uk) reported that ASASS President, Peter Hay has warned that adult social care cuts will only get worse over the next three years and so the Dilnot Commission’s report needs to be actioned sooner rather than later. “We have heard the government’s timetable for consulting on the commission’s report, and the conditions any response need to meet. But we must also bear in mind that, while delay is understandable, uncertainty about the future will have inevitable and unfortunate consequences.”

This is some progress at least but it seems we will have to wait further to see the course of action.

The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk) reported that between half and three-quarters of budget-holders report a positive impact on most aspects of their daily lives and fewer than one in 10 finds any negative effects. It is also clear that 60% of carers thought their general quality of life had improved.

The number of people receiving Personal Budgets doubled to 338,000 in the year to 31 March, according to a survey by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), and in 27 councils the practice extends to more than 50% of all users of services.

So what next for Personalisation? This feedback is encouraging but Rob Greenland from Social Business Brokers, says: “People are starting to publicly acknowledge that we are struggling to make personalisation work. I really think we need more openness about this. But it doesn’t come naturally to local authorities to admit that they don’t have the answers.”

He thinks the key is to bring more people and organisations from outside the social care system into the process. Social workers, he says, are under immense pressure and are accustomed to offering only what the system can offer. “It’s hardly surprising that the majority of people going through this process appear to be ending up with pretty much what they had before.”

The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk) published an article that gives a disabled person’s views on inspections, regulations and CRB checks following the Winterbourne View revelations…

“The mother who sat in front of her TV screen crying as she watched her own child screaming in pain, because she had accused her daughter of lying about being abused at a recent visit, can’t be blamed for this. After all, it’s 21st century Britain. We have Disability Discrimination Acts, Equality Acts, and CRB checks – all this is supposed to protect the most vulnerable people in our society from exactly what the investigation uncovered.

Until last week, I thought CRB checks were overrated. I thought councils and employers took them too far. And sometimes they do – but, thanks to the case of Winterbourne View, I now understand the real importance of CRB checks. The sad thing is, we don’t know if Winterbourne View employees were ever given any. Even if they were, and even if these came back clear, that didn’t stop the abuse.

The programme has had a great deal of media attention over the last week. Politicians from all parties are doing all they can to get involved and discuss the issues raised. Perhaps most importantly, police are carrying out an investigation into the case, and arrests are still being made. This is some form of justice for the residents of Winterbourne View who were made to suffer so much at the hands of these people. People who were supposed to have a duty of care towards them. This is all because of the reputation and popularity of Panorama, so as difficult as the investigation was to watch, I’m glad it was carried out.

So, what can now be done to reduce the risk of anyone else suffering in this way? Well, the programme clearly showed that staff at such places need to be better trained to understand the needs of the people they care for. Care homes, hospitals and their regulators need to carry out stricter inspections and more unannounced inspections. More notice needs to be taken of any reports of abuse in such institutions – at Winterbourne View the whistleblower was ignored for too long by his managers and by the Care Quality Commission. Care homes and hospitals also need to start using strict whistleblowing policies. Whistleblowers should be allowed to remain anonymous to reduce fear of bullying within their job or of losing their job. Finally, if possible, CRB checks should become more detailed.

I hope some carers working with learning disabled people at other residential homes saw the programme. I hope they were as shocked by it as anyone else was. If one professional who may be considering abusing their disabled patients saw the programme and thought again, it was worthwhile. If seeing the programme encouraged one health professional to ‘blow the whistle’ on a colleague, it was worthwhile. If seeing the programme made one abusive health professional realise that what they are doing is wrong and must stop, it was worthwhile.

Most of all, I hope that when the politicians get over the shock, they keep the promises they have made this week. I hope this investigation has shown them that disabled people are not statistics or percentages, but people just like everyone else. If they break their promises this time, if they allow there to be another Winterbourne View, then the country will go back hundreds of years, and everything disabled people have worked so hard to achieve in recent years will have been a waste of time.”

It seems that the main problem is that the cuts have led to a reduction of resources in a bid to save money; in particular, staff. This means that remaining staff are stretched and are no longer able to give service users the time and attention they would like to.

Physical resources are also being cut which only adds to the problems. Andrew Tyson of In Control said: “Personalisation is about choice. We know a lot of people are still choosing day centres and, if day centres aren’t there, people won’t have choice.”

So could it be, as originally suggested by some, that personalisation is just a cover for the Government to save money? Is it really an excuse to cut services that would otherwise be needed?