A NEW scheme launched in Bolton will invest in care homes to help improve care.

More than 30 of the town's 34 care homes have signed up to a new quality scheme that aims to boost standards across the borough.

Bolton Council, together with its partners Bolton NHS Commissioning Group (CCG), Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, and the care homes has launched the Care Home Excellence Programme.

The scheme encourages the 23 residential care homes and 11 nursing homes in the borough to commit to high standards of care, improving quality and experience.

Cllr Asif Ibrahim, cabinet member for adult social care and safeguarding, said: "We are proud to have some of the best care homes in the country, which reflects the hard work and dedication of care home managers and their staff.

"Not only are we aiming to maintain this level of care, but we are also always striving to improve so that Bolton becomes a national exemplar of care home quality.

"The new Care Home Excellence Programme has been devised to reward care homes who commit to continuous improvement, in order to make a resident’s experience the very best it can be."

The programme has been designed in partnership with care home providers, residents and their families.

It aims to improve people’s experience of their stay, make homes safer, and help to prevent care home residents from needing a stay in hospital.

Homes will also benefit from collaborative support, training opportunities and share best practice.

In return for pledging to the commitments, the homes will be rewarded with a payment of £10 per bed, per week, for each resident that is funded through the local authority.

This represents an investment of £500,000 in care homes by Bolton Council.

A further £200,000 will be invested by the CCG for care home residents who are receiving care funded by Continuing Health Care.

Bolton’s Transformation Funding from Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership will see a further £2m invested in the care home sector for improvements, including developing technology, increasing training, reducing falls and implementing initiatives to ease hospital transfers.

Bolton has 95 per cent of its care homes rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission.

CCG chief nurse Mary Moore said: "Bolton is one of the best performing boroughs in Greater Manchester when it comes to the quality of our care homes.

"The CCG is pleased to be working in partnership to drive up the quality of care and we are delighted that care homes in Bolton have signed up to the new scheme.

"It’s all about thinking differently about the way we do things, taking a whole system approach and truly working together, whilst putting people at the centre. Many Bolton people are cared for in the borough’s care homes so we must ensure that this is time lived well."

Bolton’s care home providers were invited to a launch event to find out more about the Care Home Excellence Programme and to be presented with a certificate stating they were signed up to the programme’s aims and objectives.