• The Care Quality Commission has published State of care, its annual overview of health and social care in England
• This year's report shows that depite challenging circumstances, much good care is being delivered and encouraging levels of improvement are taking place, however, the sustainability of this position is in doubt
• We say the report compounds our fears that cuts to social care are pushing the NHS to a tipping point

The Care Quality Commission has published State of care, its annual overview of health and social care in England. The report looks at the trends, highlights examples of good and outstanding care, and identifies factors that maintain high-quality care.

The report shows that the regulator's inspections have found that many health and care services in England are providing good quality care despite a challenging environment, but that substantial variation remains. It also finds that the sustainability of the adult social care market is approaching a tipping point, and its fragility is beginning to impact both on the people who rely on these services and on the performance of NHS care. 
 
Commenting on the report, director of policy and strategy for NHS Providers Saffron Cordery said:

“We welcome today’s report for its responsible reflection on the current state of health and social care, and the thoughtful appraisal of how things need to change to sustain and improve quality going forwards.

Much credit must go to our members and their dedicated staff who continue to deliver high levels of quality

“Sadly the report includes no great surprises, highlighting an NHS under intense pressure to perform against a backdrop of increasing demand and static funding. Much credit must go to our members and their dedicated staff who continue to deliver high levels of quality while they struggle to balance the books, meet core NHS access targets and manage rising workloads that are increasingly complex. Three quarters of services rated inadequate have managed to improve with good leadership again highlighted as a key ingredient of success, although all trusts take on board that there will be variations in quality that need to be tackled.

Sadly the report includes no great surprises, highlighting an NHS under intense pressure to perform against a backdrop of increasing demand and static funding

“It is clear that something has now got to give and the State of care compounds our fears that cuts to social care in particular are pushing the NHS to a tipping point – not only in hospitals but across mental health and community services too. With an ageing population that has more complex needs, there is a greater imperative than ever before for responsive and well-resourced social care. People are struggling to get the support they need which impacts on the NHS where the door is always open, and where we are seeing growing pressure on emergency care, access to all types of services and challenges to planning discharges for patients. The solution is not about ‘health versus social care’, but more about the need for transformative system-wide solutions with realistic funding to accompany them.”