As part of our governance research, CMS, the SHHA member, did a deep dive into auditing institutions in key European markets.
In the UK there are four jurisdictions with different regimes in place to regulate and monitor the safety and quality of healthcare and social care/care home services. Although the overarching aims and objectives are very similar, each regulator’s processes and procedures are nuanced and in practice dealings with them can be varied.
In Austria each Federal State operates its own Care Home Supervisory Authority. They are responsible for the supervision of institutions that primarily provide long-term care, while medical service by doctors is limited to a case-by-case basis.
In Belgium The ‘Care Quality Commission’, an independent regulator of the health and social care system in England is responsible for auditing the care institutionst. However, Belgium does have the ‘Service Public Fédéral (SPF) santé, sécurité de la chaîne alimentaire et environnement’ to monitor the health care system.
In Germany each federal state has established a care home supervisory authority which supervises and advises care homes (including housing for senior citizens, short term care, hospices, nursing homes, assisted living (in some federal states)) with a main focus on protecting the interests and needs of the occupants. Additionally there are 15 regional medical services (“MD”) in Germany which have various responsibilities in the health sector. MD assists the health and nursing care insurance companies with medical and nursing care-specific matters.
In The Netherlands The Ministry of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sports (VWS) is the coordinating government body concerning matters of health and eldercare in The Netherlands. The VWS delegates it’s responsibilities concerning healthcare to a number of internal subdivisions and external affiliated institutions.
Norway has no supervisory authority relating specifically to the care home sector. However, all care service providers in Norway, including care home operators, whether operated publicly or commercially, are subject to supervision and government by the Norwegian Board of Health Supervision (Helsetilsynet), a national supervisory authority organized under the Ministry of Health Care Services.
To learn more download the full CMS report with details regarding selected countries.