Call for review of care home staffing levels

Alex Sobel (Lab, Leeds North West) made the plea after being contacted about an incident where a woman in a home had been sexually assaulted by a fellow patient.

Addressing Health Minister Caroline Dineage in the House of Commons, Mr Sobel said introducing minimum staff-to-patients ratios could prevent such incidents happening in the future.

He said: “Some constituents came to me about their mother who had been sexually assaulted in a care home, not by the staff but by another patient. I was dismayed to hear that, unlike nurseries, care homes have no minimum staffing ratio.

“Will the Minister look into having minimum staffing ratios in care homes, so that these events do not happen?”

Ms Dineage said: “We are of course very concerned about training and ensuring that all care staff have a care certificate, so that there is a minimum level of skills training. However, the point about ratios is interesting and I will take it into consideration.”