Additional government funding for social care this Parliament is “there for social care in its entirety”, not only preventing delays in hospitals, the sector’s chief inspector has said.

The Care Quality Commission today launches its full report on the state of adult social care, after completing inspections of all providers, highlighting significant problems.

Asked about the issue of use of the £2bn funding announced in the spring budget, Andrea Sutcliffe said: “[That] funding was there for social care in its entirety. [I] highlighted that this is a sector that supports not just older people but people with a whole host of other needs.

“It was quite clear that that [new funding] was there to help support sustainable social care, not just the interface between health and social care.”

It comes after the health secretary on Monday issued guidance indicating councils’ share of the funding may be docked in future years if they fail to improve performance on delayed transfers 2017-18 – sparking an angry reaction from local government.

The CQC has also found:

  • Over three-quarters of care providers are rated “good” and 2 per cent rated “outstanding”
  • But it said there were worrying signs of some “good” providers later deteriorating, potentially linked to financial and demand pressures
  • Ms Sutcliffe said fewer providers were “outstanding” than he had hoped at the outset of the inspection process
  • There are particular problems in nursing care homes, with larger proportions of badly-rated services. This is linked to a wider shortage of nurses, and high turnover
  • Regional patterns show more poor services in the north west and parts of west Yorkshire and the north east. Ms Sutcliffe said these were areas which were more reliant on local government budgets - which have been cut - but the CQC had not yet found whether there is a link to funding.

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