Three-quarters of care homes rated Inadequate have shown improvement

Nearly three quarters of care homes originally rated Inadequate have improved their ratings following re-inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

The CQC has published an analysis which shows that during the period October 2014 to March 2016, 73 per cent (273) of 372 care homes rated Inadequate have improved their overall ratings following the most recent CQC inspection.

From these re-inspections, three-quarters (205) have gone from Inadequate to Requires Improvement and a quarter (68) have gone from Inadequate to Good.

Andrea Sutcliffe, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care, called it “good news for the people who use these services” and said: “I welcome the improvements we have seen during our re-inspections of care homes that were originally rated as Inadequate. Real change does not happen overnight – the improved ratings are a testament to the time, effort and determination of providers, their managers and their staff.

“While services that have moved to Requires Improvement are heading in the right direction, I am clear that this is still not good enough and providers cannot afford to be complacent. Evidence of consistent practice and sustainability is what we are looking for, to ensure people always get the Good care they deserve.

"Ultimately, if services cannot or will not improve for the benefit of people they are paid to support, then quite frankly there is no place for them in the care sector. As the regulator, we will be vigilant and will not hesitate to use our powers to put a stop to poor standards of care being provided if necessary.”

Ms Sutcliffe added that her desire is for “great care to become the norm”. Ninety-nine of the care homes did not demonstrate sufficient progress to have their overall rating amended and 34 care homes that were Inadequate and re-inspected have subsequently become inactive – either following enforcement action taken by CQC or due to the provider choosing to close the service.

The re-inspected care homes improved in terms of investing in training so that staff understand the needs of the people they are caring for and the required safeguarding procedures, cleaning and making sure rooms and communal areas present a homely and welcoming environment at all times, developing activities that match the interests of residents and involving them in decisions about their care and empowering staff to suggest ideas of how to do things differently.

In response to the analysis, Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, said: “I am very encouraged to see the latest report from the Care Quality Commission and this clearly shows that despite the care sector facing significant challenges, there is clear evidence that improvements in the quality of care are being sustained."

Vic Rayner, executive director at the National Care Forum (NCF), also welcomed it as “great news” saying: “At NCF we appreciate first hand just how hard providers are working to develop innovative, personalised services that meet CQC requirements – and most importantly the requirements of residents and their families. NCF believes that commitment towards quality is fundamental, and recognises the important role CQC plays in championing this agenda.”

Emily Holzhausen, director of policy at Carers UK, called the signs of improvement “encouraging” but said that “many families will remain concerned that there is not consistently high quality residential care available to those they support”.

To access CQC’s analysis of care homes that were rated as Inadequate overall and then re-inspected between 1 October 2014 and 31 March 2016 – including case studies of those that have demonstrated significant improvements and a list of all those services, according to region, that have improved in this analysis timeframe – please visit: www.cqc.org.uk/care-home-improvement.