To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government has taken to assist (a) Newcastle Allied Healthcare and (b) other home care providers given an inadequate rating by the Care Quality Commission.

In 2014, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) introduced tougher inspections for providers regulated by the CQC to clamp down on poor services.

In April 2015, the Department introduced a special measures regime for all registered adult social care providers including care homes and home care agencies that have been rated as inadequate by the CQC, which offers the opportunity to improve within a time-limited period with access to a suite of resources enabling providers to deliver better, safer care.

The CQC published analysis that shows that from 1 October 2014 to 31 March 2016 out of 372 care homes rated inadequate, 73% (273) have improved their overall ratings following the most recent CQC inspection.

The Department provides funding to the Social Care Institute for Excellence to offer improvement support, training and consultancy to registered care providers – helping them raise the standards of care and improve outcomes for service users.