Caring Homes statement on visiting rights in care homes

Following today’s statement by Andrea Sutcliffe, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, about visiting rights in care homes Caring Homes would like to confirm its approach to this very important matter.We have an open an honest culture at Caring Homes, where we actively seek and act upon the opinions and feedback of our residents, relatives and employees across all our homes. Our Home Managers are extremely approachable and visible, and they operate an open door policy. Relatives are also encouraged to visit as frequently as they are able, should residents wish them to do so and be fully involved in the planning and provision of care and support for their loved ones. Where an individual may not have capacity to express their wishes, we seek the views of key stakeholders including care professionals to act in the best interests of the resident considering their past and present wishes, feelings beliefs and values.In addition we have a comprehensive complaints policy and a whistleblowing service both of which are clearly on view within our homes. Anyone can call the whistleblowing service (Expolink), anonymously if they wish, to report a concern.People can be confident that expressing a concern or complaining will not cause problems for them or their loved one, indeed all feedback is used to continuously improve the services that we provide.Please see CQC’s information on visiting rights in care homes for further guidance.