IMPROVING CARE HOME RESIDENTS' ACCESS TO NHS SERVICES

That this House notes the recent Quest for Quality report by the British Geriatrics Society that suggests many of the estimated 400,000 older people resident in UK care homes have variable access to NHS services because of the type of accommodation in which they live; acknowledges that many people in care homes are highly vulnerable with over 40 per cent. suffering from dementia and over 75 per cent. living with a disability; accepts that while NHS provision to care homes can be excellent there is considerable unwarranted variation in the quality of provision, especially around medications management, dementia and end of life care; and calls on commissioners and health service planners to remember their obligations to ensure that the healthcare needs of this vulnerable group are adequately met.