One in three councils see care home ratings worsen within past year

Over a third of local authorities have seen a decline in CQC ratings in care homes, according to a new study.

The research by Independent Age showed care homes' ratings had worsened in 37 per cent of local authorities, an increase on last year which showed care homes doing worse in 22 per cent of authorities.

There were 16 local authority areas where between 30 - 40 per cent of care homes attracted ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’ ratings. The report figures were taken from data from January 2018 – 2019.

Manchester topped the table of local authorities with a decline in care home performance, with 44 per cent of care homes rated as ‘Inadequate’ or ‘Requires Improvement’.

One focus group participant for the study in the Manchester area said: “I’m frightened of care homes in case I have to go in one”.

Another participant, in Bexley, had visited her sister in Cambridgeshire and was surprised to find the homes there were “run totally different to the homes here.”

More than two and a half million older people live in the 56 local authorities where care home ratings have deteriorated, say the charity.

Director of policy and influencing at Independent Age, George McNamara said: “The Government continues to stand by and do nothing to address the quality of care suffered by older people.

“Care homes are failing to deliver even the bare minimum”.

This, he stated “robbed older people of their ability to enjoy life as much as possible”.

The charity director also warned the upcoming green paper on adult social care needed to be “bold and ambitious” otherwise, “it would do little to address the crisis in care”.

But the study admits the green paper and lack of funding are not the only contributors to poor outcomes for care homes. The report states: ‘Care homes remain an overlooked sector in public services. Data shows that we tolerate poor care home quality far more than failing GP surgeries or schools.’

The report concluded that the care home sector could learn valuable lessons from the education sector where more regular inspections from the education watchdog results in better outcomes for struggling schools.

This is in contrast to care home management where the CQC return six months after a poor rating to see if changes have been made. The report states: ‘Following on from a rating of ‘special measures’, schools tend to be re-inspected on a termly basis. On each occasion, a report will be published to provide a regular assessment of whether the school is improving.

‘This constant re-evaluation ensures that the school is made accountable for making the changes necessary to drive performance.’

The report also made mention of how an experienced executive head is often brought into struggling schools to help turn them around, suggesting that local authorities could similarly take more of a collaborative approach to raising standards in care homes in their areas.