Staffing and its relationship to quality in care homes (StaRQ Study)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Relationship between care home staffing and quality of care: a mixed methods approach
IRAS ID
257475
Contact name
Karen Spilsbury
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 16 days
Research summary
In the UK, 405,000 older people live in 18,000 independently owned care homes (5,153 nursing and 12,525 residential homes). Residents in care homes are predominantly older, present with multiple needs (typically living with four or more long term conditions), have increasing degrees of cognitive impairment and may enter the setting at the point of needing end of life care.
Staffing is the largest expense in most care homes and quality depends on the staff working in the home. Beyond recognising that 'staff influence quality', we don't know much about the people who work in care homes and how they affect quality; including how people living in care homes experience care and how much quality costs.
The aim of this 3 year study is to explore and explain the relationship between use of the care home workforce (and the mix of care home staff) and how this affects: quality of care; outcomes for residents, relatives and staff; and costs. To meet our aims we have 5 work packages (WP). First, we will better understand how and why the characteristics of the care home workforce vary so much across England by reviewing existing research and surveying care home managers and staff (WP1). We will use data on quality from two national organisations (Skills for Care and the care Quality Commission) to develop understanding of the relationship between staffing, quality and costs (WP2). Then, working with Bupa Care Services, we will use organisational data to further understand this relationship (WP3). Further, we will explore in six care homes why quality varies as staffing changes (WP4). Finally, we will identify who and what helps care homes spread new ways of working and use this knowledge, alongside the results of all the work packages, to encourage all English care homes to consider ways in which they might implement and use the research (WP5).REC name
Social Care REC
REC reference
19/IEC08/0027
Date of REC Opinion
23 May 2019
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion