This paper makes the case for a specific set of competencies required to adequately care for care home residents. It proposes that staff with these competencies need to work in an appropriate service context in order to achieve the best outcomes. These competencies and contextual factors are not currently recognised or championed by any single constituency within the existing healthcare infrastructure and there is a case that service delivery would be well served by recognition that 'care home medicine' is a distinct entity.
Keywords: frail older adults; health services for the aged; nursing homes; primary health care; residential facilities.