Chartered Trading Standards Institute publishes guidebook for UK care homes industry

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) has launched a new complaints guidebook for the UK care homes industry designed to help operators understand consumer law and implement a complaints process.

The guidebook, produced in collaboration with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, follows the Competition and Markets Authority's Care Homes Market Study, which came out in 2018.

The CMA found that there were significant difficulties for residents and their representatives to organise a move to a different care facility or to make complaints directly to care homes. The complaints processes were perceived to be unclear, complicated and confusing.

CTSI Chief Executive Leon Livermore said: "This new care home complaints guide is essential reading for care home managers and operators. Entering care is a critical life decision usually undertaken during an extremely vulnerable time for residents and their representatives alike, and this guide will prove to be essential for the improvement of the care home industry.

"I am proud of CTSI's role in producing the guide, and I ask the care home industry to take notice and use this free resource. The guide will improve both your business and the experiences of your residents. Let's build a better care home industry together, which starts by reading and implementing the advice in this guide."

A digital copy of the guide may be found here.