Hundreds of care home owners protested outside Parliament

The 500-strong group says quality care is being sacrificed for new standards, which range from monitoring mealtimes to measuring fridge temperatures.

Nadra Ahmed, of the National Care Homes Association, says homeowners are facing "unbelievable" levels of paperwork.

They are now calling on the government to review the standards introduced.

'Common sense needed'

The protest comes just a month after Scotland's justice minister announced plans for the country's 1,800 homes to be checked for fire safety after a blaze at one establishment in Uddingston claimed 14 lives.

The National Care Homes Association (NCHA), which represents independent care home owners, says its members are struggling to keep up with the paperwork resulting from 247 separate standards plus regulations.

What we are saying is, do standards like these actually improve the quality of care for our frail and vulnerable elderly? Nadra Ahmed NCHA

Mrs Ahmed, chairman of the National Care Homes Association (NCHA), said: "No-one would dispute that standards are needed to ensure there is consistency of care and transparency about what care is on offer, but by the same token, some common sense also needs to be applied.

"Some of the standards are just about ticking boxes, like recording everything a client has ever eaten during their time at a home or measuring the fridge temperature three times a day.

"What we are saying is, do standards like these actually improve the quality of care for our frail and vulnerable elderly?"

Mrs Ahmed said the paperwork faced by NCHA members had now reached "unbelievable proportions".

"We've held back long enough to see if the promise of sensible regulation, as well as extra money for long term care, have been delivered - it hasn't. Yet we take no pleasure in saying 'we told you so'."

'Disastrous record'

The NCHA, was joined by the Registered Nursing Homes Association and the GMB trade union, in Wednesday's rally, which also received support from Tory and Liberal Democrat MPs.

The group also highlighted what they see as a lack of funding for long-term care of the nation's most frail and vulnerable citizens.

The Conservative Party has promised to review all these regulations and will strip out any that are still unnecessary Simon Burns Shadow health minister

Tory shadow health minister Simon Burns said the protest highlighted the government's "disastrous record" on long-term care.

He said his party would review all new regulations and "strip out any that are still unnecessary".

"Since 1997, over 70,000 care home places have been lost and there has been a fall in a number of households receiving domiciliary care packages," he said.

"Many of the care home places were lost due to the introduction of over-prescriptive and centrally-driven bureaucratic regulations.

"Although some of these regulations have been revoked, for many homes it was too little too late."

Sandra Gidley, the Liberal Democrats spokeswoman for older people, said: "What the care home owners should do now is come clean about which specific paperwork is not contributing to patient care, then we can work together to abolish the barmy and keep the creditable."