CQC’s chief inspector for adult social care Andrea Sutcliffe with care home residents. Pic: Care Quality Commission
Three of the six care homes for elderly people in Tower Hamlets are either inadequate or require improvement, according to a new analysis.
Analysis by Which? of data from the Care Quality Commission, the regulator responsible for the quality of care provision in England, shows that 48 per cent of care home beds in the borough are in three homes which failed to pass regulation checks. This is the second worst figure for all London boroughs.
The six residential care/nursing homes accumulatively offer 339 beds; 169 of these are in homes which fall short of a ‘good’ CQC rating. The three homes which fall short are Hawthorn Green, Pat Shaw House and Peter Shore Court.
According to Care Quality Commission guidelines, care homes are rated against five questions which observe if the service provided is safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. With almost half of the care homes in the borough not meeting requirements, it is less likely that people looking to move into a care home will be able to find a suitable place in Tower Hamlets.
Tower Hamlets Council said: “The recent research by Which? into the care home market does provide some worrying figures, however a lot of work is carried out to support those providers who require improvement to do so.
Positively, Tower Hamlets now has its first care home to be rated ‘outstanding’ by the CQC and our aim is to support the improvement across all providers to achieve the same rating.”
The care home rated ‘outstanding’ is Silk Court.
Alex Hayman, Which? Managing Director of Public Markets, said: “Having to choose a poor care home isn’t really making a choice at all, and it’s disturbing to know that so many people are already in care homes that are clearly not good enough.”
According to the Care and Support Statutory Guidance, issued under the Care Act 2014, councils are required to offer local-authority funded individuals at least one suitable care home place that will meet the individual’s needs.
According to the analysis, poor care home quality is particularly acute in London. A total of nine boroughs have at least one in three beds in poor-quality care homes.
A map showing percentages of beds in care homes which are inadequate or require improvement, labeled by borough.
The State of Care report published by the CQC in October states: “What is clear is that there is not one national picture for adult social care; the pressures are being felt at a local level and to different degrees. There is wide variation across the country in the quality of care.”
