One in six care homes are providing substandard care for elderly people, an official audit has found.

By James Kirkup, Political Correspondent

The Care Quality Commission said almost 4,000 residential homes and other agencies - providing care for more than 80,000 people - must improve the quality of service they provide.

The CQC also "named and shamed" eight councils it considers to be providing the worst care for older people.

It delivered a stark warning about the availability of publicly-subsidised care in future, warning that councils were likely to place tighter restrictions on funding as their budgets came under pressure in the years ahead.


Care homes failing 80,000 elderly residents - Telegraph

On the surface this again appears to be a failure of our Labour Gvnt to properly address the needs of Britain's elderly; but should society in general take responsibility? Phil Hope, the Care Services Minister completely understates the situation by highlighting the 'significant increase' in the number of care homes rated excellent by saying "it's unacceptable that there are a small number of areas where services are under-performing compared to the rest" - 1 in 6 is not a small number in my opinion and it does not help to attempt to refocus our attention on achievement while such a large number of the elderly in our society remain at risk! This is becoming an all too popular tactic by Labour Ministers - divert attention while self-aggrandising instead of apologising and focusing on the critical nature of the issues at hand.