Health and Social Care Committee

Consultation on terms of reference for inquiry into residential care for older people

RC26 ToR – Action on Hearing Loss Cymru

Health and Social Care Committee

National Assembly for Wales

13 October 2011

Dear Chair,

Re. Proposed terms of reference for the committee inquiry into residential care for older people

About us

Action on Hearing Loss Cymru is the new name for RNID Cymru. We're the charity working for a Wales where hearing loss doesn't limit or label people, where tinnitus is silenced – and where people value and look after their hearing.

The terms of reference

Action on Hearing Loss welcomes the Committee’s commitment to undertake an Inquiry into residential care for older people in Wales and the ways in which it can meet the current and future needs of older people.

We believe that the proposed terms of reference will provide us with the opportunity to provide details of the experience of people with hearing loss in residential care, outlining some of the current problems. We particularly welcome the explicit reference to “the effectiveness of services at meeting the diversity of need amongst older people” and believe we can use this to provide extensive evidence to the Inquiry.

We look forward to providing written evidence to this Inquiry and would welcome the opportunity to give oral evidence.

Contact details:

Mary van den Heuvel, Policy and Research Officer

Action on Hearing Loss Cymru, 16 Cathedral Rd, Cardiff CF11 1LJ

ANNEX A

Suggested terms of reference

To examine the provision of residential care in Wales and the ways in which it can meet the current and future needs of older people, including:

 the process by which older people enter residential care and the availability and accessibility of alternative services

 the capacity of the residential care sector to meet the demand for services from older people in terms of staffing resources and the number of places and facilities.

 the quality of residential care services and the experiences of service users and their families; the effectiveness of services at meeting the diversity of need amongst older people; and the management of care home closures.

 the effectiveness of the regulation and inspection arrangements for residential care, including the scope for increased scrutiny of service providers’ financial viability.

 new and emerging models of care provision

 the balance of public and independent sector provision, and alternative funding and ownership models, such as those offered by the cooperative and mutual sector