1. The Commission for Social Care Inspection

2. Before we look at the content of the report, I feel that it is pertinent to look at who the Commission for Social Care Inspection are. The Commission are an independent body set up by Government to promote improvements in Social Care and stamp out bad practice.

3. They report their findings to the Government and publish a report to parliament every year on the state of social care. The Commission assess the whole process of providing care, from the first assessment of someone's needs to the services people receive.

4. The Commissions Inspectors will look at the following: How well local services actually meet the needs of people who use them. Whether, and how well, services are provided. How well the needs of different groups of people are met (for example, people with physical or learning disabilities).

5. The Commission for Social Care is the single inspectorate for social care in England, responsible for regulating and inspecting all social care providers- whether in the public or independent sector. The Commission’s primary aim is to improve social care by putting the needs of people who use care services first.

6. The Commission for Social Care Inspection will continue to monitor the performance of homes through unannounced and other inspection activity. Where they find failing standards they will not hesitate to take enforcement action.

7. Care Homes Fail on Medication Standards: Nearly half of all nursing and residential care homes are failing to meet national minimum standards for how they give people medication prescribed by their doctors, a report by the Commission for Social Care stated.

8. More than 210,000 people living in care homes across England are at risk of being given the wrong medication. 8,000 nursing and care homes fail to meet National minimum standards for handling drugs. National minimum standards are the Department of Health guidelines.

9. Examples of bad practice: The Commission gave examples of bad practice: A care home resident prescribed antibiotics on a Thursday evening did not get them till the following Tuesday afternoon and as a result the resident had to be admitted to hospital.

10. More examples…. Poor record keeping – a resident was given 2 doses of insulin in one morning. In another home pots of pre – prepared medication were given to the wrong residents. One care worker in a North West of England home gave 10 times the prescribed dose over several weeks to a resident.

11. Dame Denise Platt, Chair of the CSCI said: ‘It is vital that care homes treat medication issue’s with the utmost seriousness.’ ‘What needs to be done can be done with existing resources and help from other agencies.’

12. Training Grants Since 2004, local authorities have received and directed training grants worth £48 million to improve qualifications of care workers in the voluntary and private sectors.

13. Conclusion Since the findings of the report homes have received professional guidance and training grants to ensure they meet the required standard. Although some improvement has been made, the Commission has found some of the same problems persist and these include: -Homes not keeping proper records -Lack of adequate training for care workers to ensure safe practice.