title: Slipping standards.
abstract: The old year came to an end with serious question marks over the commitment to upholding some of the newly introduced standards relating to care homes for older people ( DoH 2002 ). And the new year opened with the publication of the overdue standards relating to the provision of domiciliary care ( DoH 2003 ). There are worries associated with both these developments, which I set out below. But first it is worth noting a degree of disarray emerging from other quarters.
authors.forename: Les
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bright