Centres for old to get star ratings.

quality of life Care homes are set to get hotel-style ratings

A NEW system for assessing care homes in England is to be introduced in a bid to improve standards.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) will rate care homes for the elderly and disabled on a four-star hotel-style rating system, with four stars being excellent and one star poor.

The aim is to give home managers an incentive to improve the standards of care and the quality of equipment and accommodation, and to give residents and their relatives an idea of the level of care to expect.

Currently care homes have to meet minimum standards but there is no way of telling if a home is excelling or only just meeting those standards.

They generally charge between pounds 21,000 and pounds 42,000 a year for a place.

Dame Denise Platt, chairman of the CSCI, which registers, inspects and reports on social care services in England, said there was currently no clear link between the fees charged and the quality of care provided by care homes.

"People can read our reports about individual homes, but until now there has been no way to make direct comparisons between homes.

"We hope that the new system will bring quality closer to price," she said.

Details of the rating system will be published in a consultation document next month with the new star-ratings system being introduced from April next year.

Martin Green, the chief executive of the English Community Care Homes Association, which represents 2,800 independent care home owners, said: "Care homes are underfunded.

"There has to be a closer link between the amount local authorities are prepared to pay for care and quality."