The Commission on improving dignity in care was established as part of a joint initiative from the NHS Confederation, Age UK and the Local Government Association (LGA), to help improve dignity in care for older people in hospitals and care homes.

The Commissioners include representatives of patients and residents, experts from the world of nursing and medicine, and management of health and social care services.

View the members of the Commission.

The focus of the Commission

The Commission has been trying to understand how and why older people's care is failing on dignity and what will drive improvement.

Understanding the problem and the need

•  understanding the extent and root causes of the failure to provide appropriate levels of care to older people and the aspirations of older people and their families in terms of care provided.

Establishing what really works

• collating existing tools and guidance that support improved levels of care for older people and identifying good practice examples across the health and social care system.

Driving change and improvement

• developing practical, long-term solutions to help tackle the underlying causes of undignified care.

Draft report and recommendations

The Commission published its draft report at the end of February 2012 setting out ten key recommendations for hospitals and ten key recommendations for care homes to help them tackle the underlying causes of undignified care. It also included detailed recommendations on the changes the Commission believes need to take place across the wider health and social care system 

The Commission held a month-long public consultation to gain feedback on its draft report. The consultation closed on Tuesday 27 March and the Commission is now using the feedback that it has received to help inform the development of its final report and recommendations due for publication in the spring.

With Age UK and the LGA, we will publish a long term action plan alongside the Commission’s final report that will focus on working with our members and partners across health and social care to deliver the Commission’s recommendations.

Evidence submissions

The draft report drew on the body of evidence that the Commission has been gathering since it was established in June 2011. This includes written evidence submissions from over 40 organisations, three days of public hearings and expert opinion from academic, medical and nursing reference groups.

You can see the full list of organisations that submitted written evidence as well as the transcripts from the oral evidence sessions.