I write regarding your article, Councillors To Inspect Borough’s Care Homes (News Shopper, February 8).

What planet do these councillors live on? They appear to be devoid of basic common sense.

Your article confirms the councillors are going to make "pre-arranged" visits, thus giving the care homes time to clean them up and possibly arrange a special meal for the residents on the day of the inspection.

The only way to get an accurate assessment of the true state of such homes is to make an unannounced visit, as I know from experience.

While looking for a home for a close relative, I was advised by social services that if any care home I visited to inspect asked me to come back hours later, it was an indication the care home was in need of a clean-up.

Their advice was to only consider homes that allowed me immediate access.

Four care homes requested I return in about two to four hours, so I ignored these, and chose one that allowed me immediate access, and which was immaculate.

As the councillors' visits are all going to be pre-arranged, their findings will not be worth the paper they are written on, so what a waste of time, and a complete farce.

In order to give the impression they are taking the matter of care homes seriously, the only way to make a proper care home assessment is via an unannounced visit.

Doug Angus
Meadowview Road
Bexley