We have carried out reviews of health and social care systems across the country to find out how services are working together to care for people aged 65 and older.
We reviewed more than 20 local areas. We also returned to a number of areas to see what had changed since our original reviews.
Beyond barriers: how older people move between health and care in England set out our key findings after our first 20 reviews.
Our reports of local health and social care systems
Why we're carrying out these reviews
The Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care and for Communities and Local Government asked us to carry out a series of targeted reviews of local health and social care systems. These focus on how services meet people’s needs and how care providers work together. For example:
- Are older people supported to stay well and to continue to live in their home?
- What happens when someone needs more care, for example, they need to go to hospital?
- Are they supported either to return home safely, or to move somewhere new that meets their needs?
What we're doing
Our reviews ask how well people move through the health and social care system, and what improvements could be made. They include services such as:
- NHS hospitals
- NHS community services
- ambulance services
- GP practices
- care homes
- residential care services
To carry out this work, in each area we:
- listen to older people who use services, their families, carers and communities
- listen to people who commission and provide health and social care for older people
- analyse data about the quality of care services and outcomes for people
We developed this methodology in co-production with:
- individuals and groups representing people who use services
- representatives of care providers and commissioners
- partners, including NHS England, NHS Improvement and the Local Government Association.
What we aim to achieve
Each local area review highlights:
- what is working well
- where there are opportunities for improving how the system works for people using services.
We report to the local authority area’s health and wellbeing board and publish our findings.
Find out more
Beyond barriers: how older people move between health and care in England
Local system reviews interim report
Summarising the first six area reviews.
Local system reviews – interim report
Local authority area data profiles
News stories:
CQC to conduct 12 local system reviews of health and social care
CQC to conduct further eight local system reviews of health and social care