How is the health and care sector faring in England?
Care Quality Commission (CQC) researchers say people’s experience of healthcare depends on where they live and how well the local systems work together.
IN its annual State of care report the CQC says that ineffective collaboration between local health and care services can result in people not being able to access the care that would help them avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital, which in turn leads to increased demand for acute services.
There is pressure on emergency departments as demand continues to rise, with July 2018 seeing the highest number of attendances on record.
CQC says a threat to effective collaboration between health and social care is the continued fragility of the adult social care market. Unmet need continues to rise, with the charity Age UK estimating that 1.4m older people do not have access to the care they need. In two years, the number of older people living with an unmet care need has risen by almost 20%.
Chief executive of the CQC Ian Trenholm said: ‘This year’s State of Care highlights both the resilience and the potential vulnerability of a health and care system where most people receive good care, but where access to this care increasingly depends on where in the country you live and how well your local health system works together. This is not so much a “postcode lottery” as an “integration lottery”.’
Further information
CQC: State of Care