More than 5,000 care homes in England have not been inspected in the last five years, analysis shows

The care inspection body described the backlog in care home inspections as a “serious concern”, while also raising questions about how ratings are determined, with “too much reliance on subjective judgement rather than consistent evidence”.

According to the analysis, as of 1 March 2026, more than 5,400 care homes in England had not been fully inspected by the CQC since the end of February 2021, out of a total of 13,475 care homes which were registered in February 2026 or before.

Breaking the figures into local authority areas, Dr Groombridge, who uncovered the data, identified that in five local authorities, more than 70% of homes had been “let down” by the CQC backlog.

These included Cambridgeshire – (74%), Tower Hamlets – (83%), West Berkshire – (76%), Windsor and Maidenhead – (87%) and Wokingham – (81%).

He warned: “The backlog in care home inspections remains a serious concern. How can families feel confident that their loved ones are receiving the care they deserve if inspections are not taking place regularly? The vast majority of adult social care providers and their staff work incredibly hard to deliver high-quality care, but that does not remove the need for proper oversight, inspection and accountability.

“The Government must recognise the challenges within the CQC. It is not only significantly behind on inspections, but there are also questions about how its ratings are determined, with too much reliance on subjective judgement rather than consistent evidence. At the same time, providers can be left feeling criticised without being given the support needed to improve.”

Meanwhile, CIUK found that even when inspections are carried out, reports can take “months” to be published.

Dr Groombridge noted: “This lack of timeliness does little to support transparency or drive improvement, and it is simply not acceptable.”

He added: “The system needs radical reform to ensure the residents of the 5,429 care homes in England, which have not been inspected since the end of February 2021, are safe, looked after and receiving the support they need and deserve.”

Chris Badger, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care at the Care Quality Commission said: “We know that we need to increase our rate of assessments to make sure that we update the ratings of providers and give the public confidence in quality of care. Since accepting the recommendations in Penny Dash’s review of CQC last year, we have worked hard to develop how we fulfil our vital role of helping people receive a high level of care as well as supporting providers to improve. This included making a clear commitment to increasing the number of assessments we carry out.

“We are committed to fulfilling this role now, and making sure we do so in the future. In the short term, we are making progress and on track to meet assessment targets as agreed with the Department of Health and Social Care. Looking to the future, we have been consulting with people who use services, work in them, the general public and our own inspectors about changes to how we assess and rate the care that people receive.

“It is also important to recognise that while we might not inspect a care home for a period of time, we do also continuously monitor services so that we can respond to issues that arise. This allows us to focus our resources in the places where there is highest risk. When people share their concerns about poor care with us, they can have confidence that we will act to hold providers to account to ensure people are kept safe and treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”