BBC Panorama & the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Social Care

Monday night’s BBC Panorama: Nursing Homes Undercover made some shock revelations about two homes in Cornwall. Reporter Janice Finch posed as a resident and secretly filmed the conditions of the home whilst another Panorama team member, Lucy, posed as a carer who had not received completed DBS check.

There’s no doubt that the images recorded were graphic, emotional and upsetting and the conditions that residents were living in were completely unacceptable. We can all take solace in the fact that the company had decided to close one of the featured homes down, with residents moved to more suitable accommodation.

Our Talent Director, Dave Beesley, was especially moved by this episode but not for the reason you might think. I asked him about his take on BBC Panorama Episode.

Dave Beesley, Talent Director:

“It is a shame that more often than not we hear about the extremes, the bad and the ugly in the social care sector. There are plenty of exceptional providers and care workers that rarely take to the spotlight.

The programme exposed staff that who weren’t caring and examples of new starters working without DBS checks and references in place. “At Cohesion, we have a precise recruitment and onboarding process. Carers with the right values are hired, and where we manage pre-employment for our clients, our rigorous process means that candidates only start when they are DBS compliant and their references have been fully checked.

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There are so many examples of exceptional care that I really wish we’d hear more about in the media. In fact, if you have a look at the CQC Map of Care Home Ratings, you can see that most Care Homes in the UK are rated “Good.”

As of November 10th 2016, CQC had rated 19,010 active adult social care – over 14,000 were good or outstanding but nearly 5,000 required improvement or were deemed inadequate. Who’s to blame for this – the organisation? The CQC? The councils who commission the service? I’d argue all have a responsibility, especially if we’re ever going to change the perception of working in care as it currently stands.

I am hopeful that we can continue to paint a positive picture of working in care for those who are thinking of joining. My message is simple – don’t be put off by the horror stories. On the whole, we have a fantastic health and social care system and if care is your calling, you will thrive!”