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Absent voices compromise the effectiveness of nursing home regulation: a critique of regulatory reform in the UK nursing home industry
Author(s) -
Kerrison Susan H.,
Pollock Allyson M.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
health and social care in the community
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.984
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1365-2524
pISSN - 0966-0410
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2524.2001.00329.x
Subject(s) - commission , legitimacy , accountability , compromise , business , health care , public administration , nursing homes , public relations , nursing , political science , medicine , law , finance , politics
Over the last decade there has been consistent pressure for the healthcare services in the UK to become more accountable to users. Now over half the healthcare beds in England are in the privatised nursing home sector, and regulation of the sector is under reform. Yet requirements for user accountability have not been reflected in these reforms. In other sectors, consumer involvement in regulatory agencies and processes is seen as important to the success of the regulatory enterprise. But in the care sector neither users nor their representatives have been given legal rights of involvement in the National Care Standards Commission or in regulatory processes. This paper argues that failure to involve users not only places the regulation enterprise at risk of capture by the industry, but will also weaken the legitimacy of the new Commission.