Yesterday CQC marked the completion of its first round of inspections into health and social care services by releasing a national report on the state of adult social care services between 2014 to 2017. It inspected 24,000 care services and, while noting that the majority of services are of a high quality and many are improving, it has also found that around a quarter of services are failing on safety (receiving ratings of either ‘inadequate’ or ‘requires improvement’ for the Safe question). CQC has said drug errors, lack of staff and falls were major areas of concern. Around 37% of homes failed on safety, with inspectors noting that there were particular problems with staff recruitment and retainment.
Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK, said:-
“Taken as a whole, this report is a graphic demonstration of why older people desperately need the government to follow through on its commitment to consult on proposals for strengthening social care later this year.”
In response to these findings, Health Minister Jackie Doyle-Price, has said the additional investment announced (£2bn over three years) and the forthcoming consultation on the social care system expected later this year would put the sector on a “stable footing”. Everyone will need to play a waiting game to see whether this will really provide stability to the sector.
