One in five care homes for older people in England fail to meet set national standards – time to look at home care?

One in five care homes for older people in England fail to meet set national standards for safety and care, a report by 5 live Investigates suggests.

Research by healthcare analysts Laing Buisson examined inspection records for almost 10,000 care homes, and found 20% had failed to meet at least one key quality measure.

5 live found cases of residents washed in cold water or left with scabies.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) called the figures “disappointing”.

In October 2014, the care watchdog – the CQC – introduced a new “tougher” inspection regime for care homes.

Following this, the researchers examined 9,816 inspections available on the CQC website in the first week of January this year.

They found 1,829 care homes were not fully compliant on at least one key measure – for example meaning the home might not be deemed safe, could be poorly managed, deemed not caring enough, or may not be responding to a resident’s needs.

For more on this story visit the BBC website.