Providing Care for older people in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world has become a critical part of health care because this group of the society requires special attention. They are highly susceptible to various health issues, from physical injury to mental problems. With the decreased immunity of older adults in the United Kingdom, ensuring favourable regulations govern how older people are handled regarding health care is essential. This helps minimize the cases of both physical injuries and mental disorders among the elderly. These regulations help in health care improvement for the advantage of older adults. The United Kingdom’s rules dictate residential care procedures and requirements for older people. Various policies and legislations (Acts of Parliament) influence the developments in residential care policy. The results of residential care policy and legislation in the United Kingdom are discussed herein. The significant issues and challenges facing residential care provision for older people and the suggestions to improve this Care are also discussed based on the findings.
Discussion
Residential Care refers to the Care provided for an extended period within a care home, offered to people who require help with personal Care. Residential Care involves activities like dressing, washing, giving medication and taking the particular individuals to the toilet when need be (Eccles, 2020). It assists individuals not in a position to do these daily tasks for themselves. For example, an older adult with a severe physical injury due to an accident or other reason may usually be unable to carry out his or her daily life tasks (Li et al., 2021). Thus, he or she requires healthcare professionals who understand him or her to assist in daily activities.
Some of these older people may be under medication and therefore need guidance on how to take the medication (Comas-Herrera, 2018). The United Kingdom has had a long history of providing residential Care to all groups of people and particularly the elderly, who are not in a position to carry out most of their day-to-day activities by themselves (Ekeagwu & Ukpai, 2018). In 1936, Britain started care homes, and the first Almshouse was set up in York. Funding was provided by the then king of the English, King Athelstan, to prevent clergy members from using their finances to take Care of the older adults.
The United Kingdom’s government has also issued guidance on providing residential Care. Following the Department of Health and Social Care’s Caring for our future reform of Care and Support document, which was published in July 2012, the government set a vision for the future of Care and support in the United Kingdom (Barber, 2021). The document highlights government commitments to the provision of high-quality care provision, supporting people who need it, person-centred Care and ensuring that people get the Care they need at the right time (Bowman). The document also highlights how government commits itself to provide more choices and support services.
National Health Service
The introduction of the National Health Service in England, which is used by people who cannot meet the criteria of NHS CHC, requiring nursing care is also a significant milestone in the Care for the elderly in the United Kingdom. Older adults were charged expensively for healthcare services in their residences (Dwyer et al., 2017). National Health Service (NHS) recognizes that support and information are vital to the individuals in the Continuing Healthcare (CHC) process and therefore introduced a solution of independent information and advice services through social media known as Beacon. Beacon is widely supported to provide good information to everyone, including the elderly. This service is supported by Parkinson’s U.K., the Spinal Injuries Association. The National Health Service has played a vital role in promoting the well-being of older adults (Comas-Herrera, 2018). This has been possible through training and informing them about their physical and mental health.
Care Act 2014
The Care Act 2014 was brought about to dictate adult social care provision in England. It allowed for providing care services to people living in their areas, providing advice and information about health care to the people, high-quality services in health care, control over the organization of health care and support. It allowed safeguarding adults/elderly to promote well-being (Jarman, 2022). Through this act, the elderly have been informed about their health, and the quality of health care services provided to them in home care settings improved. Generally, the Care Act of 2014 revolutionized the healthcare sector in the United Kingdom (Comas-Herrera, 2018). The changes it brought have positively impacted people of all ages in the country.
Since the introduction of residential Care for the elderly in the United Kingdom, many developments have followed this type of Care and its requirements. Some significant developments are in policy changes and acts of parliament enacted to govern how this Care is provided to various individuals. In the year 2000, there was the introduction of “The Care Standards Act 2000” the government (Participation). It was a system of inspection and registration of all the residential care homes to ensure that they provided quality care that met all the standards set out by the United Kingdom’s government (Jarman, 2022). Therefore, any home care organization has to be registered following the government’s laws and be inspected regularly for it to start and continue offering home care services to the elderly in the United Kingdom.
Care Quality Commission Regulations (CQC)
In addition, the government enacted the Care Quality Commission Regulations 2009 on April 1 2010, to enforce registration requirements of how people in the United Kingdom provide and manage home care services. The Care Quality Commission is a non-departmental body in the United Kingdom’s government that was formed in 2009 and inspects or regulates social health care services within England (Marrelli, 2018). It has the authority and power to inspect and regulate local authorities, private companies, voluntary organizations and the National Health in hospitals, people’s homes, and care homes (McBride & Tietze, 2023). To ensure that the quality of health and social services provided is kept high, the body assesses the performance of providers and commissioners while at the same time monitoring the operations of the Mental Health Act. It ensures that management and coordination of all health and adult social care activities are well done. It can deregister an organization or health service provider if they do not show the ability to sustain the required standards as per the policy.
Issues/Challenges Affecting the Developments
With all the above developments put in place to ensure high-quality residential Care for older adults in the United Kingdom, several challenges have made it hard to keep up with the policies or developments (Comas-Herrera, 2018). First, it is time-consuming for the service providers to ensure they always comply with the regulations. Thus, balancing daily tasks with compliance has become a significant challenge for residential care providers. The strict and unfavourable compliance requirements for care homes have made it hard for most individuals to continue with the service provision (Marrelli, 2018). As a result, more personnel still need to offer these services to the older adults in the community.
Another critical requirement to ensure that the developments for elderly residential Care are well followed is capital or finances. Thus, the lack of enough funds to push for and manage the requirements of the various policies makes it difficult to implement or instead adhere to the developments even though they have been put in place to make health care provisions for the elderly better (Samarasekara et al., 2017). For instance, there is a continuous lack of funds to employ personnel and purchase the items required in residential care settings. All these factors affect the quality of Care provided and the general well-being of the individuals under the Care. There is a lack of responsible bodies to regulate or oversee the operations of the various residential care homes (Comas-Herrera, 2018). As a result, residential care homes have become rampant in the United Kingdom, and they operate without paying attention to the expected standards of health care services. This has resulted in abuse and neglect of the elderly residents and, at times, led to the death of others.
Recommendations/Solutions
Improving residential Care for older adults in the United Kingdom requires devising effective strategies to manage residential care homes. First, the government has to set aside some funds to facilitate the operation of residential care homes (Comas-Herrera, 2018). By so doing, there will be a positive impact on providing residential health care services to the elderly (Marrelli, 2018). Through the funding, the government will also be able to cater for the health care costs of older adults who are not in a position to afford the services at their own cost.
Secondly, oversight bodies inspecting the residential care homes should create a good relationship with those running or managing the facilities. Creating a conducive environment for these care providers and giving them favourable terms of compliance to the set healthcare standards will improve the quality of Care and the well-being of older adults in the United Kingdom (Samarasekara et al., 2017). However, the oversight bodies must maintain strictness to ensure all residential care facilities meet the requirements. Lastly, there is the only improvement that comes with awareness and empowerment. Individuals in the residential care sector should be trained in professional healthcare service delivery to the elderly in care homes (Comas-Herrera, 2018). Training will enable them to improve how they care for these individuals and thus provide high-quality services at all times. It will also help them minimize and control errors, mistakes, abuse and neglect throughout their service delivery to the elderly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the impact or importance of the developments in residential care policies and legislation in the United Kingdom can be made better by addressing the issues that have made it difficult for them to function. In other words, there is a need to create a better environment for residential care homes in the United Kingdom, as this will improve healthcare service delivery in the country. Mortality rates of the elderly in residential Care will also be highly reduced with such amendments. The government’s sole responsibility is to develop policies that will effectively address the challenges faced in residential Care.
The government should provide sufficient funding for residential care homes and ensure that oversight bodies carry out their roles effectively in governing and controlling the operations of residential care homes for the elderly. The government also needs to create more government-sponsored and regulated residential care homes to accommodate older adults who may require special health attention in their old age but do not afford it. Government home care will allow many older adults, especially those without income in the United Kingdom, to access health care services without struggling.
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