Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to improve the quality of residential care in Dagenham and Rainham.

Although 81% of adult social care providers and 73% of care home beds are rated as good or outstanding by the Care Quality Commission, it is completely unacceptable that standards in some settings fall below those rightly expected by care users and their families.

The Department is working with the adult social care sector to implement Quality Matters – a shared commitment to achieve high quality adult social care for service users, families, carers and everyone working in the sector, through six actions.

The Care Act 2014 placed a duty on local authorities in England to promote a diverse, sustainable, high quality market of care and support providers for people in their local area to meet their needs. The Department has supported local authorities with their market related duties through a sector-led approach and has brought together guidance and support in an on-line hub available on GOV.UK.

This summer we will publish plans to reform our social care system to make it sustainable for the future. The consultation will set out options to put the social care system on a more secure footing and address issues to improve the quality of care and reduce variation in practice, including for those in the Dagenham and Rainham area.