People with dementia are still not receiving care that meets their needs because health and adult social care services are struggling to cope, according to the latest Care Update produced by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) which is based on over 20,000 inspections carried out between 1 April and 31 December 2012.
Concerns about the quality of services for people with mental health issues and learning disabilities were also highlighted. The latest Care Update found that people with dementia living in a care home are more likely to go to hospital with avoidable conditions such as urinary infections, than similar people without dementia. Once in hospital, they are more likely to stay longer, be readmitted, and die there than similar people who do not have dementia. It concludes that those services involved in caring for people must do more to make sure people get safe, quality care that identifies and meets their needs. The Care Update also says that services for people with mental health issues or learning disabilities provided by independent hospitals and community services still have some way to go to provide a good quality of care. The disparity between the quality of healthcare in independent acute and community services which continues to be high, and the quality of mental health and learning disability services, is still wide and is not improving quickly enough, said the CQC.
