Sheffield Local Involvement Network

More than 70% of care homes for older people in Sheffield have now responded to LINk's questionnaire about standards of care. This questionnaire was sent out as a formal request for information on two occasions and the Care Homes  for Older People Action Group is delighted with the response. In tandem wth the questionnaires, LINk authorised representatives have now undertaken 13 'enter and view' visits to older people's residential care and nursing settings with more happening over the next months. The reports into these visits are published.

The greatest success of this work has, perhaps been the fostering of a spirit of closer working relationships between service providers, statutory authorities like the Care Quality Commissio, Sheffield City Council, NHS Sheffield and older people's organisations. Much of this success can be shown by the type of response we have had to our work.

One lady told us "Thank you for your encouraging and helpful reply to my friend's concerns about her care home.I think it would give her a real boost (psychologically) if she receive something directly from LINk this time. I'm sure she would be thrilled to ee that an organisation such as LINk is monitoring what actually happens in care homes, and is acting to improve things for residents."

Care homes have also been telling us things like, "the visit was positive for staff and residents" and "it's good for service users and staff to have outside agencies in and give their opinion with fresh eyes".

The work of the Action Group continues and extends into influencing the Council's guide on residential care home options and other information.