PANORAMA INVESTIGATION INTO RUNNING CARE HOMES

That this House is appalled by the findings of the recent BBC Panorama programme which showed elderly people had been put at risk in two substandard nursing homes in Calderdale and Halifax; expresses dismay that the authorities responded too slowly in addressing problems in these homes; acknowledges that the overwhelming majority of care homes in Halifax are well run with dedicated staff supporting elderly people; condemns these incidents as wholly unacceptable; calls for the way care homes are inspected to be looked at again as a result of these findings; and further calls for a more open and accountable system of monitoring, inspecting and reporting on private care homes to help ensure that incidents like this never happen again and that the relatives of elderly and vulnerable people can monitor the performance of care homes their loved ones are in.