 Our annual State of Care report, assessing the quality of health and adult social care in England, has been published.
The report warns that the system remains under significant strain as it prepares for a major shift from hospital to community-based care. While there are examples of innovation, community services need greater investment to deliver the ambitions of the government’s 10-Year Health Plan.
In adult social care, the end of new care worker visas is expected to add recruitment pressures, making a sector-wide workforce strategy and fair pay agreement essential. Shortages in homecare, rehabilitation, and reablement services continue to delay access to care and contribute to hospital discharge delays.
Secondary care
On any given day in March 2025, nearly 6 in 10 patients who were ready to be discharged experienced a delay.
Over the last 10 years there has been a steady increase in the percentage of emergency readmissions, with older people and people living in more deprived areas more likely to be readmitted within 30 days of being discharged from hospital.
Our 2024 Community Mental Health Survey found 1 in 3 respondents reported waiting 3 months or more - rising to almost 1 in 2 for those waiting for child and adolescent mental health services. Across all respondents, 14% reported waiting more than 6 months between their assessment and first appointment for treatment.
Over the last year, the number of urgent and very urgent referrals to crisis services has risen sharply.
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