Best adult social care found in lower income counties

An interactive tool has been published by care provider Caring Homes exploring the link between income, life expectancy and the standard of adult social care.

Data has shown better care homes are more likely to be found in low income counties, with creators of the tool hoping people will become inspired to look more closely into the quality of care in their area.

The interactive tool discovered higher scoring care homes were more often found in counties where the average annual salary is below £23,000 then in higher earning counties.

Cornwall has the lowest average salary in the country, but has been ranked in the top 12 of care homes on the level of care provided.

Shropshire was found to be the county with the highest level of care, with 94 per cent of care homes in this area meeting CQC standards. Nottinghamshire, in contrast, scored the lowest with over a third of care homes not meeting CQC standards.

Despite looking at statistics on life expectancy and the number of CQC compliant care homes, Caring Homes’ found no indication of a link between the two.

Emma Charlton, Caring Homes marketing director said:“One of the most important decisions in life is choosing the right care home, whether for yourself or for a loved one. There is a huge amount of information available to help people make this decision, but in the past it hasn’t always been easy to find or understand.

“At Caring Homes we are committed to helping people make the right decisions about care. Helping them to access clear information to base those decisions upon is a vital part of that process. Our new infographic will help people who are looking for good care.

“It will also help care providers, commissioners and regulators to see where standards are high, and even more importantly, where they need to target their resources to improve care. Caring Homes is passionate about using new technology to improve care standards and make the sector more open and transparent. This new infographic is a perfect example of our commitment.”

Caring Homes has been running care homes for 20 years and now runs 65 care homes throughout the UK.

To view the infographic visit: www.caringhomes.org/quality-of-care/