In each case, questions were raised about nursing standards because many of the basic failings - communication, nutrition, pain relief and assistance going to the toilet - fell under their remit.

BBC: Nursing standards: PM aims to tackle 'care problem'

Prof Crome said it was possible to focus on technical aspects of nursing at the same time as basic care, adding it was crucial to have care values "reinforced in the the training environment and the working environment".

BBC: Nurses in drive for 'compassionate care'

One out of every three times patients wound up in nursing homes that year, they landed in facilities that failed to follow basic care requirements laid out by the federal agency that administers Medicare, investigators estimated.

WSJ: Medicare paid $5.1B for poor nursing home care