Forced Closures of Care Homes in England: How Much Does Ownership Explain Care Failure?

GOLTC Care Home Markets and Regulation Interest Group webinar

Date: 27 January 2025

Time: 13.00-14.00 GMT (you can check your local time here.)

Link: Register to join on Zoom

There is a contentious debate in academic and political circles about whether marketisation and private sector involvement has worsened the crisis facing adult social care. The upcoming group’s webinar sheds light on the prospects for private organisations in the care market in England, featuring Anders Bach-Mortensen, Benjamin Goodair, and Michelle Degli Esposti from the University of Oxford.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Abstract of presentation: Adult social care services in England are struggling, and sometimes failing, to supply the quality of care deserved by the most vulnerable people in society. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is responsible for protecting the recipients of this crucial public service. Their strongest enforcement is the ability to cancel the registration—the legal right to operate—of a health or social care provider. Using novel data from the CQC, we show that the proportion of care home closures due to CQC enforcements, relative to all closures, is increasing. Since 2011, 816 care homes (representing 19 918 registered beds) have been involuntarily closed by the CQC. Our results show that effectively all involuntary closures (804/816) occurred in for-profit care homes. This data emphasises the need for a comprehensive assessment of the impact of for-profit provision on the quality and sustainability of adult social care in England.

The webinar will cover:

1. Introduction to the Global Observatory of Long-Term care and welcome (Adelina Comas-Herrera, Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, LSE, UK).

2. Introduction to the Care Home Markets and Regulation Interest Group (Igor Shagalov, Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, LSE, UK; Health Economics Unite, University of Birmingham, UK).

3. Presentation: Forced Closures of Care Homes in England: How Much Does Ownership Explain Care Failure? (Anders Bach-Mortensen, Benjamin Goodair, Michelle Degli Esposti, University of Oxford, UK).

4. Questions & Answers session (Jose-Luis Fernandez, Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, LSE, UK)