Choosing and Paying for a Care Home

Each Residential Care Home which has a contract with Manchester City Council is assessed regularly to make sure that the standard of care meets the criteria set out in the contract.

We give these care homes a rating of Gold, Silver or Bronze, based on the follwing criteria, and then give advice and guidance to help homes improve all the time:

Bronze Award

• complies with any statutory requirements
• has policies and procedures in place, and that these are followed
• has staff that understand and can explain the policies and procedures
• has clients who understand the nature of the service they are receiving
• engages in partnership working at a client level to better meet the needs of the individual
• is working towards the achievement of individual client outcomes
• demonstrates a commitment to continuous improvement

Silver Award

• has policies and procedures in place that go beyond statutory requirements to embrace good practice, and that these are followed
• has staff that are confident to take the initiative, and work effectively with other agencies
• has service users meaningfully engaged at a service level
• engages in partnership working at a service level to better meet the needs of service users and the service
• is working towards the achievement of shared outcomes at a service level
• challenges its own performance with internal auditing and the setting and monitoring of targets
• demonstrates a commitment to continuous improvement　

Gold Award

• is flexible and responsive, and able to adapt the service to best meet service users needs
• is a learning organisation that reflects on its work and uses this information to challenge its own performance
• effectively engages service users and staff in this shared learning
• engages in partnership working at a strategic level to better meet the needs of service users, the service/organisation and commissioners
• demonstrates the achievement of shared outcomes as a result of effective partnership working
• demonstrates vision, leadership and creativity that influences practice beyond the boundaries of the service

Failure to meet Bronze Award means that the service is failing to meet the minimum quality standard. In some instances immediate action will be required to meet legal, statutory or health and safety standards. That is below the minimum requirements for services in receipt of council funding and service providers should prioritise achieving Bronze Award immediately.

This may result in enforcement action, including breach of contract notice or suspension of service contracts, depending on the nature of the failing. If this happens, we will work with the Provider to rectify the shortfalls, and will produce an action plan with agreed timescales. The aim is to rectify any shortfall as quickly as possible.