We have been informed by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that its inspectors assess the performance of care homes against each national minimum standard (NMS) and rate them on a four point scale. A score of four indicates that a standard has been exceeded. A score of three shows that it has been met. A score of two denotes that the standard was almost met with minor shortfalls—this indicates that one of the numerous sub-sections in the standard has not been completely met. A score of one means the standard has not been met.
The following table shows the numbers of care homes for older people inspected and their performance against the NMS for the year ending 31 March 2007.
Scores NMS Homes evaluated against this standard 1 2 3 4 1 Information 9,989 259 1,921 7,541 268 2 Contracts 9,696 200 1,452 7,960 84 3 Needs assessments 10,522 222 1,473 8,426 401 4 Meeting needs 9,574 313 1,271 7,683 307 5 Trial visits 9,504 28 238 9,064 174 6 Intermediate care 2,078 86 164 1,745 83 7 Service users' plans 10,556 549 4,078 5,338 591 8 Healthcare 10,550 313 1,853 7,794 590 9 Medication 10,537 686 3,495 6,187 169 10 Privacy and dignity 10,531 131 936 8,849 615 11 Dying and death 9,201 68 964 7,686 483 12 Social contact and activities 10,542 279 2,203 6,841 1,219 13 Community contact 10,532 12 262 9,591 667 14 Autonomy and choice 10,520 89 787 9,079 565 15 Meals and mealtimes 10,543 131 1,372 7,938 1,102 16 Complaints 10,546 137 1,161 9,043 205 17 Rights 9,006 34 291 8,639 42 18 Protection 10,539 333 2,004 8,040 162 19 Premises 10,552 462 2,909 6,415 766 20 Shared facilities 9,685 128 1,124 7,875 558 21 Lavatories and washing facilities 9,666 281 1,761 7,305 319 22 Adaptations and equipment 9,569 230 1,841 7,310 188 23 Space requirements 9,485 67 647 8,388 383 24 Furniture and fittings 9,781 170 1,920 7,266 425 25 Heating and lighting 9,704 370 2,151 6,980 203 26 Hygiene and infection control 10,544 288 2,004 7,647 605 27 Staff compliment 10,535 357 1,667 8,181 330 28 Staff qualifications 10,093 189 2,032 6,968 904 29 Staff recruitment 10,512 724 2,518 7,074 196 30 Staff training 10,516 317 2,593 6,955 651 31 Day to day operation 10,520 320 1,985 7,390 825 32 Ethos 9,509 214 879 7,594 822 33 Quality assurance 10,511 462 2,692 6,795 562 34 Financial procedures 8,778 199 865 7,654 60 35 Service users' money 9,966 117 767 8,975 107 36 Staff supervision 9,860 562 2,688 6,449 161 37 Record keeping 9,485 478 2,684 6,238 85 38 Safe working practices 10,542 647 3,432 6,235 228 Note: The total number of homes measured against NMS for older people was 10,565. Not all homes are evaluated against all standards at every inspection. Inspections may be themed and focus on particular aspects of a service. Source: CSCI NMS data—31 March 2007