New evidence about the state of England’s adult health and social
care services must be the driver for better quality support, says
VODG (Voluntary Organisations Disability Group), the national
body representing leading not-for-profit disability support
providers.
This is the VODG verdict on today’s report from national
regulator Care Quality Commission (CQC), The state of health care
and adult social care in England, which shows that most health
and adult social care services in England are providing people
with safe, high quality and compassionate care. However, it also
serious raises concerns that the health and care system is
‘straining at the seams’, making future quality precarious.
Commenting on the CQC publication, VODG (Voluntary Organisations
Disability Group) chief executive, Dr Rhidian Hughes said:
“This report is vital, authoritative evidence about what kind of
health and social care support is available across England. CQC’s
analysis of the quality of support comes as such services face
unprecedented challenges in a climate of austerity. Social care
providers, in particular, are experiencing increasing demands for
support, rising costs and recruitment and retention worries.”
He adds:
“According to today’s CQC report, most health and social care
services are good, and this reflects a strong commitment to
quality support from the workforce in both sectors. However,
there is worrying evidence of poor practice and services that
remain woefully inadequate. It is also deeply concerning to see a
deterioration in services where providers have taken a backwards
step in their quality rating. Commissioners who fund health and
social care services and providers which deliver them must
utilise the knowledge and information in today’s report to drive
up quality, and to ensure that good practice is not only shared,
but replicated.”
CQC’s assessment come a day after VODG published the hard-hitting
True Costs, warning that successive governments’ failure to
properly fund social care is leaving millions of people at risk
of losing vital support. The VODG report warned that if social
care support fails, there will be harmful implications for the
people who use these services as well as on the NHS due to
increased demand for emergency care.
