Quality Care in North Tyneside’s Care Homes

Thank you to everyone who completed our survey and shared their views about what it’s like to live in care homes in North Tyneside.

We have now completed our visits to 30 care homes in the borough, the survey has closed and we are currently finalising our reports to be shared with North Tyneside Council.

The research was undertaken to help us understand what it’s like to live in care homes in North Tyneside from the perspective of residents, families and friends. 

This is a joint project between Healthwatch North Tyneside and North Tyneside Council’s Commissioning Team. Healthwatch was gathering information which will contribute to the Quality Payment Scheme run by the Council which affects the fees care homes can attract.

All views and feedback are being stored safely and anonymously and will help improve care. The results are going to be shared with North Tyneside Council’s Commissioning Team and anonymous feedback will be shared with the relevant care home in a report about how they work.

Using our Independent Observer Scheme, trained Healthwatch volunteers and staff visited each care home to meet residents, staff and families, listening to and observing everyday life in the care home. Our team brings a common-sense, layperson’s point of view to complement the work of North Tyneside Council’s Commissioning Team.

Quality Payment Scheme

The Council’s Quality Payment Scheme for residential and nursing care homes means each home is assessed against quality criteria, with higher scoring homes attracting higher weekly fees. The Quality Payment Scheme is designed to drive up the quality of care. Our findings from the survey and visits will feed into the quality score for each home.