Outsourcing care homes has compromised the accessibility and quality of care for the most vulnerable, particularly in areas of greatest deprivation, according to new research led by the Department of Social Policy and Intervention and funded by the Nuffield Foundation.
The results, published in BMJ Public Health, raise questions about the role of the private for-profit sector in exacerbating the care sector’s ongoing crisis.
Lead author Dr Anders Bach-Mortensen (Associate Professor at Roskilde University and Senior Researcher at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford) said: ‘Good third sector and local authority homes are closing, especially in the poorest areas of the country. This is problematic because for-profit care homes do not consistently provide high-quality care in deprived areas, which raises serious questions about whether outsourcing care services has inadvertently compromised the equity and accessibility of care for vulnerable people.’
Co-author Dr Benjamin Goodair (Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford) said: ‘This study aims to contribute to the growing body of work relating to the number of social care services being outsourced to for-profit and non-profit sector providers over the past 30 years. The data suggest that the competitive environment created by outsourcing does not prioritise quality or equity in care provision.’
Find out more on the University of Oxford website, or read the report in full.Â
