Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) residential care homes and (b) nursing homes have closed since 2016.

The total number of beds in care homes remains broadly static but high quality care is not just about care home beds and the numbers of care homes. Of those aged 65 and over who need local authority support, 62% are cared for in their own home. The number of home care agencies in England has increased by 55% since 2010 (3,184 more agencies).

The following table shows care home bed numbers in England and Greater London 2016 – 2018, as of the date listed in the table.

Data on care home closures is not held centrally.

The following table shows care both the total number of care home locations active on 1 January and the number of care home locations deactivated from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2017. A location can be deactivated for a number of reasons, and not necessarily because the service has closed. For example, it may have re-registered because it has made changes to its legal structure or changed address. Similarly, other operators may have entered the market and replaced the care provision provided by the deactivation of a location.

Notes:

A location with a service type of ‘Care home service with nursing’ is categorised as a ‘Nursing Home’; a location with a service type of ‘Care home service without nursing’ is categorised as a ‘Care Home’; a location may have multiple service types.