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 | | "This year, more people than ever have contacted us with feedback and concerns about care. As we go into winter, the health and care workforce are exhausted and depleted - which has the potential to impact on the vital care they deliver. They can't work any harder – they need support to work differently." Ian Trenholm, Chief Executive, CQC | | Our annual assessment of the state of health and social care in England looks at the quality of care over the past year. This year's State of Care reflects on how the system has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic by working collaboratively and the impact on people who use care services. The report highlights key areas affecting the system as a whole across four common themes. For the first time our report is not in sector specific chapters, but looks at the system as a whole. Watch the recording of the State of Care 2020/21 launch event on our Youtube channel. | |  | The state of care during a full year of the pandemic This year's report is the first of these to cover a whole year of the COVID-19 pandemic: - The system has not collapsed as many feared during the past year, but the impact of the pandemic has taken its toll both on people who use services and those providing care.
- COVID-19 has exacerbated inequalities and continues to do so, meaning that people who were less likely to receive good care before the pandemic are in many cases the same groups disproportionally impacted by the virus.
- The social care sector remains fragile, with short term funding not enough to ease concerns over access to and quality of care.
- New models of care are necessary to ensure that people receive the care they need where and when they need it.
This year, the success of the vaccination programme has given hope that the virus can be contained. Alongside this hope, however, is the recognition that COVID-19 will continue to cast a long shadow over all aspects of life, especially the health and care system.  | | People's experiences of care The pandemic has had a stark impact on people who use health and social care services, exacerbating ongoing issues highlighted in previous State of Care reports. The needs for mental health care has increased, particularly affecting children and young people, and people with a learning disability have faced increased challenges as a result of the pandemic. |  | | Ongoing quality concerns The risk of closed cultures is still a concern, as well as maternity care improvements being far too slow. We have continued concerns about delays in authorisation of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, leading to individuals being deprived of their liberty for longer than necessary. |  | | Flexibility to respond to the pandemic Across the system services have faced challenges in responding to the pandemic, with ambulance handover delays causing concern. However the NHS was able to expand its critical care capacity to respond to the needs of the patient population at the time of the crisis. |  | | Challenges for systems There is a large variation in collaborative working across local systems, with some working well together, and others suffering from a lack of integrating, particularly in adult social care. The situation in adult social care is deteriorating and there needs to be a focus on developing a career pathway and training, to support employers to attract the right people. | | Let us know what you think of this year's State of Care and see what others are saying by joining the conversation using #StateOfCare or follow @CQCProf | |  | | |
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