Commenting on the findings of the Care Quality Commission’s ‘State of Care’ report, Professor Martin Green OBE, chief executive of Care England, says: "I am proud to say that CQC’s State of Care report shows that at a time of unprecedented financial constraints and rising need for care, 71 per cent of the adult social care services inspected were rated ‘good’.
"This is a testament to the enormous amounts of hard work in the sector, leadership in care homes and services across the country, and the sector’s efforts to improve and learn.
"One per cent of adult social care services were rated ‘outstanding’: Care England’s Outstanding Society brings together outstanding services in a forum to share best practice and spread this across the whole sector, helping good services to strive to provide even better care."
Martin continues: "Despite the excellent work of social care workers and managers, underfunding is damaging the sector. The current funding settlement entirely disregards demographic change, the pressure on the market, and the impact on people receiving care.
"As CQC highlights, more and more people are living with unmet needs for care, and more providers are pulling out of unaffordable caring activities like nursing.
"CQC’s emphasis on providers turning down contracts reflects the impossible market for care: Care England members are still being asked to care for adults with complex needs for as little as £2.25 per hour. This undoubtedly affects the NHS, where delayed discharge figures will not improve while social care remains starved.
"The fragility of the market cannot be overstated: as this week’s media coverage has also shown, providers are being put in a perilous position by a lack of political will to meet the funding needs of social care. The CQC is a trusted voice, and is right to use its role to highlight sector difficulties: now the government must take heed and action to reverse a trend of gradual but definite erosion of this sector, a lifeline for many vulnerable people."
