Around one in five care homes is failing, shock figures reveal. Some 2,662 of 14,410 facilities under the jurisdiction of the Care Quality Commission watchdog are now ranked either “inadequate” or “requires improvement”.

But campaigners fear the situation may be far worse since the total of inspections, on which ratings are based, seemed to drop significantly.

Helen Wildbore, director of the Care Rights UK charity, said: “Even one in five care homes being below standard is completely unacceptable. These are similar to the figures before the pandemic, which begs the question, ‘Why is the regulator allowing this deplorable situation to continue?’”

She added: “Every day we hear how poor care is ruining people’s lives. The regulator must step up and protect people from the harm of sub-standard care.”

The CQC will rate homes as outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate following inspections – some of which are arranged while other checks are conducted without warning. Fees often top £1,000 per month at many homes – yet bosses at some continue to restrict visitors’ access despite a vociferous campaign to make them open up fully.

READ MORE What I’ve learned as a healthy 24-year-old living in a care home

The Daily Express, which reported the crisis in social care during Covid, obtained data showing 17 percent of facilities regulated by the care quango are rated as “requires improvement”.

That verdict can indicate that residents’ safety, health or wellbeing is at risk. Another 1.5 percent are inadequate, which might lead to them being put in special measures – or even closed. The CQC says that the figures are correct as of July 3.

Meanwhile, data obtained by law firm Pannone suggests the CQC is completing almost two-thirds fewer inspections of social care services than it managed four years ago.

The crisis blighting the sector is likely to form a key battleground at the general election – as is the years-old promise to fix it.

Care and Support Alliance – a coalition of more than 60 leading charities – last week called for action amid concern that the drive for reform has stalled, leaving millions of older and disabled people plus their families struggling to access the care that they need.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK and co-chair of the CSA, said: “Since the pledge to fix social care four years ago, we have all been on a wild goose chase as one policy after another has been announced with a fanfare, only to be subsequently shelved, diluted or dropped.”

She added: “The transformational change in care provision older people need to see and was promised to them is yet to materialise, though with our ageing population it is needed more than ever.”

Requests for support from older people and particularly from working-age adults have increased to around 1.98 million. Yet the total of people receiving long-term care fell to 818,000 in 2021/22 – a 55,000 drop from 2015/16.

Older people were worst affected, with those receiving long-term care at 529,000 in 2021/22 – a fall of 23,000 in just a year.

According to the planning body Skills For Care, there were 152,000 vacancies within social care in 2022/23 compared with 111,000 in 2019/20 when the care promise was made – a 37% increase. If trends continue, social care roles will have to increase by 445,000 posts to 2.23 million by 2035.

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Analysis by health think-tanks the Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund shows that just 14% of the public say that they are satisfied with social care services.

The Government has responded by unveiling a £600million package to try to boost staff recruitment and retention. Ministers claim the fund will support staff and add capacity, and will help the NHS before what is anticipated to be another tough winter.

Helen Whately, the care minister, said: “Hundreds of thousands of older people, disabled people and their carers depend day in, day out on our social care workforce.

“Care workers deserve a brighter spotlight to recognise and support what they do. That’s why we’re reforming social care careers and backing our brilliant care workforce with millions in extra funding.

“Our workforce reforms will help more people pursue rewarding careers in social care with nationally recognised qualifications. Our investment in social care means more funding to go to the front line. This matters because support for our care workforce is the key to more care and better care.”

She added: “A stronger social care system, hand in hand with our NHS, will help people get the care they need, when and where they need it.”

The CQC said: “We are continuing to prioritise risk-based inspections to ensure our inspection activity is focused where the quality of care is of concern. We expect all adult care services to be providing the very best care to people.

“The majority of care homes in England are good or outstanding and this reflects the incredible efforts of carers and providers who have gone above and beyond to provide high-quality care.

“Where concerns are brought to our attention, we will not hesitate to act. We will always follow up on information of concern – and where there is risk, we will inspect to ensure people are safe and receiving high-quality care.

“Where we find people are at risk, we will take further regulatory action to ensure people’s safety and human rights are upheld.”

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