Are care home fees covered by consumer legislation?

cazzicat

We have recently sadly had to place a loved one in a care home but have found a constant stream of problems including our old boy not having his teeth brushed hardly ever, being left unshaven, wearing someone else's specs, wet and infected, inappropriately dressed for conditions, activities advertised are a sham and an appaling attitude from the staff. No evidence of serious abuse but definitely not what we are paying for (the resident is not rich but had some savings which means he is classed as a self-funder).
We have decided that we must move him for his sake but the home forced us to pay a huge sum up front and will owe us a couple of thousand pounds when we leave.
They have refused to refund but I wonder if we have rights under consumer legislation as he is effectively purchasing a service that is not fit for purpose etc.
There is more to this story than I can detail here but it all makes me determind to fight them.

Would consumer legislation cover care services? Unfortunately the social care people aren't interested in helping self-funders so we are on our own.

lincroft1710

http://www.cqc.org.uk/

Regulatory body for care homes in England. You can contact them with your concerns about the quality of care provided by the care home.

jacques_chirac

Have you spoken with the care home manager (or the senior person nominated in their complaints procedure)? If so and you are not satisfied with their response CQC should be your next port of call. However be aware that they will not mediate or rule on the fees issue, their responsibility is to ensure the care provided is of an adequate standard.