In response to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report, 'Care Homes Market Study', Simon Bottery, Director of Policy & External Relations, said:
“The CMA have highlighted market failures in social care that bring the crisis in the sector into sharp focus. Older people and their families are bearing the brunt of these failures, with many people struggling to find and pay for the help they need. Care home contracts can often be confusing and we know that it isn’t always clear to people what care services they are expected to pay for. Whilst clearly there are many homes that offer a good service, in some parts of the country as many as 2 in 3 homes are under-performing. We have to aspire to so much better in a care homes market valued at £15.7bn, so it’s absolutely right that the CMA is shining a light on the poor practices that need to be stamped out. But their report provides another timely reminder that there are big funding problems, and the care homes market faces uncertainty at the very moment it also faces greater demands. There are challenges for care providers and local authorities but the government mustn’t pretend they don’t also bear some responsibility for fixing social care, irrespective of the election result. A cross-party approach is now needed.”