Revealed: East Mids areas with the highest care home ratings as region takes 6th place in England

Credit: High Speed Training

The local authorities across the East Midlands with the best performing care homes have been revealed, thanks to a new report from online training provider High Speed Training.

The report, which analysed Care Quality Commission (CQC) data for over 13,500 care homes across England found that, in the East Midlands, 80.89% of care homes analysed were rated either good or outstanding, which places the region 6th in the national rankings.

The analysis reveals a sector demonstrating significant resilience and a strong commitment to excellence, with the vast majority of providers meeting or exceeding national standards.

The top performing local authority in the region was Nottinghamshire, with 85.33% of its care homes scoring either good or outstanding, and only 14.67% rated as inadequate or requiring improvement.

Five local authorities have 0% of their care homes rated as Inadequate: Leicester, North Northants, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, and West Northants.

The lowest performing local authority in the region was Rutland with 63.64% of its care homes rated good or outstanding, with 36.36% rated as inadequate or requiring improvement.

The local authority with the highest percentage of ‘Outstanding’ care homes was West Northamptonshire, with an impressive 11.46% of its care homes receiving the top rating.

The local authority with the highest percentage of ‘inadequate’ care homes was Derby, with 1.49% of its care homes receiving the lowest rating.

The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. They regulate health and social care, working with the public, systems and providers of care to protect people and to prompt and improve the quality of care given.

During an inspection, the CQC assesses a provider against five core pillars, known as the Five Key Questions. These questions ensure that every aspect of a resident’s experience and the provider’s clinical safety is evaluated.

The five key questions asked of every service are:

• Safe: Are residents protected from abuse and avoidable harm?
• Effective: Does the care, treatment, and support achieve good outcomes and promote a good quality of life?
• Caring: Do staff treat residents with kindness, dignity, and respect?
• Responsive: Are services organised to meet the individual needs of residents?
• Well-led: Does the leadership and management of the organisation ensure the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care?

Well-led is the most challenging pillar for the industry to master. Across England, it accounts for more ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’ ratings than any other category. You are 7 times more likely to find a shortfall in ‘Well-led’ than you are in ‘Caring’. This confirms that governance, auditing, and leadership are the most difficult standards for providers to maintain consistency.

Across England, 82.7% of care homes were rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’. The best performing region was the North East, with 91.5% of care homes across the region rated either good or outstanding. The lowest region was the West Midlands, though 76.9% of the homes analysed received a good or outstanding rating.

The best performing local authorities across England were Merton, Westminster, City of Bristol and Islington, with 100% of the homes in each local authority achieving a rating of good or outstanding.

The lowest performing local authorities were Slough, Rutland and the Wirral, with the percentage of homes in these areas receiving a good or outstanding standing at 57.14%, 63.64% and 66.02% respectively.

Dr Richard Anderson, Director of Learning at High Speed Training, said: “The ratings provided by the CQC are a really important part of the care home landscape, as they give the public an accessible way to assess the quality of care available to them.

“Our report shows that, across England, standards are really high, with almost 83% of care homes across England receiving a rating of ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’. These ratings are a direct reflection of how safely and effectively that establishment operates, and we urge both the homes themselves, and the people who use them, to take them seriously.

“For establishments that perform well, a high rating is a real selling point. However, establishments with a lower rating can be off-putting for customers, which can ultimately have a significant impact on reputation.

“The high average ratings show that a commitment to proper and safe practices, including a robust program of staff training, are crucial to keep performing at high standards.”

For more on the results and the methodology, please view the full report. For more information, please visit the High Speed Training website.