Care watchdog needs to finally grow some teeth

FOR years the misery of life inside care homes for tens of thousands of often very vulnerable people has been ignored.

- 

In part because of our collective failure to understand the complex nature of social care but also because of a shameful inability to get to grips with much-needed reform.

The upshot is we have a hugely variable system in which there are a great many providers but many who operate like it is the Wild West. In the middle is a regulator whose purpose is to drive up standards but has been labelled “not fit for purpose”.

It hardly inspires confidence, does it?