Dependency of elderly people in homes on staffing ratios.

A survey of all local authority residential homes for the elderly was carried out in one non-metropolitan county to determine the dependency of residents and staffing ratios. It was found that staffing ratios, while appearing generous, did not reflect the true ratios or the staff workload relevant to the very high levels of dependency which existed. Compared with other, similar counties the one surveyed had a slightly lower than average cost per resident-week so that, given that similar levels of dependency exist, many other counties must have similar or worse workload problems. The dependency of residents and the proportion of elderly sick is likely to rise and it is suggested that an alternative scheme for a nursing home type of provision within the NHS would alleviate some of the problems existing in residential homes for the elderly.