NHS watchdog warns good healthcare is becoming more of a postcode lottery

Full story in The Guardian, 11 October 2018

Patients in England are increasingly being subjected to “care injustice” in which they can access either no or poor quality hospital, mental health and social care services, the NHS watchdog has warned.

Access to good care is more and more of a lottery depending on where people live, with some areas providing only services that have been deemed substandard, according to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

“Some people can easily access good care, while others cannot access the services they need, experience ‘disjointed’ care or only have access to providers with poor services,” the CQC’s annual report says.

Health and care services in some areas are “struggling” so much that “there are parts of the country where people are less likely to get good care,” it added. They include Kent, the Wirral, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.