Care Standards Act 2000

The Care Standards Act 2000 was introduced to establish an improved basic standard in residential care homes, nursing homes, and voluntary healthcare services (including private hospitals and clinics and private primary care premises). The Act applies to care homes for adults (ages 18 to 65) and older people.

To achieve this, the Act introduced several oversight bodies for social care in England (where it is regulated by an independent National Care Standards Commission) and Wales (where it is regulated by a department under the National Assembly for Wales). The Act also established a mandatory inspection process for care environments.

Certain parts of the Act introduced standards regarding the physical environment of the facilities. This includes aspects such as building maintenance requirements, usable floor space parameters (for each room) and sanitary appliance requirements (including en suite toilets and washing facilities).

In 2003, the Government relaxed some of these requirements due to issues associated with the costs of compliance. It was thought that some of the modifications would cause some facilities to close due to the investment required to make the facilities comply.

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[edit] External resources

• Legislation.gov.uk, Care Standards Act 2000.