Quality of Elderly Care

Thank you for contacting me about the quality of elderly care.

I believe that improving the quality of elderly care in the UK should be one of our highest priorities. 1.4 million people work in the country's social care sector, and I would like to pay tribute to their excellent work.

Caring for the elderly is one of the most significant challenges facing our ageing society. Unfortunately we are all too aware in our area what can happen when this goes wrong and I have arranged meetings between officials and Ministers and relatives of those in care homes that have fallen well below what we would all rightly expect and demand for our friends and relatives who need care. Lessons have been learned and must continue to be implemented to ensure we can be totally confident in the services on which we may all need to rely.

The front line responsibility for holding our care system to the highest possible standards lies with the independent Care Quality Commission (CQC) rightly, and has recently completed a comprehensive survey of social care in England.

I am encouraged by the latest report from the CQC, which has found that, despite financial pressure, four out of five adult social care services in England rated good or outstanding. The CQC report has, however, highlighted areas for concern, such as the regional disparity in quality of care, and the rate of improvement of care services. I will make every effort to persuade the Government to build on its recent improvements to social care.

I support the Chancellor's announcement in the 2017 Spring Budget to invest an additional £2 billion in 2017-18 and 2019-20 to aid councils in England improve social care and relieve pressure on the rest of the NHS. This funding will be supplemented by measures to rapidly improve areas in need of greatest improvement. Over the following three years, councils will have access to £9.25 billion funding for social care.

Whilst it is clear that money alone will not solve all the difficulties faced by our care sector, I support the Government's real-terms increase funding for social care. Furthermore the Department of Health is implementing Quality Matters, a vital scheme committed to improving the care sector for patients, families, and carers alike.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.