In light of a recent report which suggested that the government could save around £200 million by making cuts to fire and rescue service budgets, experts have warned that such a drastic measure could potentially put care homes and their residents at risk.
Brian Gregory from Safety Management UK has claimed that by cutting funding to fire services, local fire crews will no longer have the resources to carry out vital safety enforcement work in businesses, housing providers and care homes in their communities. It is this enforcement work that prevents many outbreaks of fire, so safety experts consider it to be vitally important.
There is also believed to be evidence that many care homes are cutting back on vital fire prevention measures such as completing full fire risk assessments and sending staff on fire safety training courses. With a lack of support from the fire service, the safety of care home residents could be at serious risk.
If the government goes ahead and makes the cuts, care homes will have to do more themselves to safeguard their residents. Fire safety training amongst all care workers will be very important, as will fire drills and risk assessments, all of which will help to save the lives of vulnerable people if a fire should break out.
