§ Mr. RowlandsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what(a) guidelines and (b) regulations are in force concerning the rights of elderly residents in nursing 375W homes who may be forced to leave those homes as a result of a change in registration by the owners of such homes. [106924]
§ Mr. HuttonResidential care homes are currently required to give reasonable notice to residents of any intention to terminate arrangements for accommodating them. Nursing homes are not currently under the same statutory obligation. This will be remedied in the new arrangements for regulating care, through the regulations and national standards we are introducing.
None the less we regard it as good practice that any decision to close a home or part of a home is handled as sensitively and appropriately as possible. When a home does have to close or beds are redesignated, the essential thing is that there should be proper arrangements made for the safe and satisfactory transfer of all residents to other suitable homes. Adequate time should be allowed for this to be done and in a way that allows both residents and their relatives a choice in where they are to move to, and which creates the minimum possible discomfort to all concerned.