Most care homes inspected so far by the Care Quality Commission are providing safe, high-quality and compassionate care, we announce today (Friday 19 June) as we show our support for Care Home Open Day.
Care Home Open Day is an annual event when nursing and residential homes across the country open their doors and invite the public to visit. The aim is to connect the homes with their local community so they can see for themselves how people are cared for and supported by some of the kindest staff in the country.
We have over 150 inspectors and other staff visiting around 180 homes in England today in celebration of the great care we so often see on our inspections.
Our latest figures this week show that we have rated nearly 4,000 care homes since last October; around 60% of these are Good or Outstanding.
This means around 40% of care homes rated so far are not providing the good care everyone has the right to expect. We are responding to risks and concerns so these early ratings may show a higher proportion of poor care than we will find once all 17,000 homes have been rated by September 2016.
But it is not acceptable for people to be let down in this way and we are committed to tackling poor care when we find it. We make our judgments clear in the publication of our ratings and reports; we set clear expectations for providers to improve; and we take legal action to force that improvement if necessary, which can lead to the closure of services that fail to change.
Our Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, Andrea Sutcliffe, said:
"I'm delighted that so many of our staff are taking part in Care Home Open Day today.
"It's a busy day for me visiting three different care homes in Manchester, Leeds and Scarborough, as well as taking the opportunity to highlight the good care we are finding and to explain how we are taking tough action when needed.
"Sadly the image of care homes can be tarnished by the poor care that does sometimes happen. Care Home Open Day is a wonderful opportunity to see the other side of the coin - fantastic homes, with compassionate, dedicated staff providing care and support we would be happy for anyone we love to receive.
"We know that great care homes have a great culture – where person-centred care is a priority; staff are valued, supported and trained to be capable and confident in their vital roles; there is an open and transparent approach; and residents, their families and carers are treated with kindness, dignity and respect.
"There are lots of care homes that do just this and on Care Home Open Day we can celebrate and thank the thousands of amazing managers and staff who make it happen. Why not join in and go for a visit?"
For more information, check out the official Care Home Open Day website to see which care homes are participating.
Show support for Care Home Open Day on Twitter by tweeting a picture holding up CQC's social media sign @CareQualityComm using the hashtag #CHOD2015.
As of this week, CQC has rated 3,976 care homes across England:
- Outstanding – 12
- Good – 2,257
- Requires Improvement – 1,422
- Inadequate – 334
CQC will inspect every one of the 17,200 care homes across England by September 2016, so that people know how their local services are performing and so that everyone can get the safe, high-quality and compassionate care they deserve.
Find out more
On Care Home Open Day we can celebrate and thank the thousands of amazing managers and staff.
Andrea Sutcliffe, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care