Dementia care poor, says report

New research into dementia care has found that standards of care in residential and nursing homes are less than satisfactory, casting doubt over the value of long term care (LTC) policies.

The study, conducted by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, found that care standards fell below acceptable levels in both public and private sector institutions. This could mean that many LTC policyholders will not receive the level of care they expected.

Philip Spiers, partner with the Nursing Home Fees Agency, said: 'People are still going to need to pay for all their personal care, and because those who suffer with dementia will need a lot of care, they could find that they are paying for something they are not receiving.'

The quality of care given to elderly mentally ill people in 10 private sectors and seven NHS facilities was examined by a technique known as dementia care mapping. All seven NHS facilities and five private sector homes were found to need radical improvement, and the other five private facilities were rated as needing much improvement.

Sandy Johnstone, retirement and protection strategy manager at Norwich Union, said the findings were especially worrying for LTC providers. 'From an insurer's point of view it is extremely difficult to dictate policy to residential and nursing homes. All nursing homes are now regulated and it is the role of the regulator to make sure that they are performing properly. If they are not, then something needs to be done about it,' he said.

Spiers said that while there has not yet been any evidence of complaints from LTC policyholders, there could be more problems in the future. 'It all comes down to cost. Many nursing homes would like to employ more staff to care for residents, but local authorities do not pay them enough to do so. And while there have been a number of homes closing recently which could push up prices, and hopefully increase the quality of nursing care, it could just create more problems such as a shortage of beds.'