Care UK comments on proposals to get residents and relatives to help rate social care

Company news

Dec 14, 2011

Toby Siddall from Care UK said: “There is an information vacuum that hinders people’s ability to exercise choice, in particular since the end of the CQC star ratings.  We have already started talking with other providers about how the sector might take a lead to improve information. Now it looks like the Government is thinking along the same lines.”

Mr Siddall continued: “I cannot think of anyone better placed to inform others facing decisions about moving into residential care or choosing a social care provider than existing users and their families and loved ones; so this has to be a step in the right direction. I look forward to learning more about the detail.  The key challenge will be to ensure any guide is a comprehensive and balanced source of information.”

Care UK is a strong advocate of choice in accessing public services.  Toby Siddall added: “We support any initiative that improves the ability of people and their loved ones to exercise choice and gives them the full range of options and information they need to make that choice”.

The company also hopes that the new proposals will give people using social care services the opportunity to recognise tens of thousands of people working tirelessly up and down the country to deliver great quality care. Toby Siddall concluded: “We need to do more to recognise their commitment and make sure we can continue to attract more carers into a rewarding vocation”.

Care UK is a leading provider of health and social care. It runs 85 residential homes and provides care at home for over 17,000 people. The company is committed to delivering a quality service and, under the old CQC ratings, 95% of the homes that it ran at the time were rated as good or excellent.