Older People Care Homes - draft

Quality and Capacity Overview: Older Adults Care Homes in Warwickshire (65+)

Between January 2020 and June 2026, Warwickshire’s care home sector for older adults (65+) has continued to evolvedevelop, with a strong emphasis on quality improvement and collaborative support for providers.

Care Quality Commission (CQC) ratings across the county continue to present a generally positive overall picture, with the majority of homes rated “Good” and a small number achieving “Outstanding.” However, a proportion of providers remain rated “Requires Improvement,” highlighting areas where ongoing targeted support and monitoring are required.

Residential Care (65+)

Across 63 residential care locations, 46 are rated “Good” and 1 is rated “Outstanding” (located in Stratford). A total of 13 homes are rated “Requires Improvement,” with no homes rated “Inadequate.”

The distribution of ratings varies across the county. Nuneaton & Bedworth has the highest number of homes rated “Requires Improvement” (4), followed by Rugby and Warwick (3 each), North Warwickshire (2), and Stratford (1). While most provision is of a good standard, this variation indicates where continued improvement activity and provider support should be focused.

Nursing Care (65+)

Within the 45 nursing care locations, 29 are rated “Good” and 2 are rated “Outstanding” (located in Warwick and Stratford). A further 11 homes are rated “Requires Improvement,” with no services rated “Inadequate.”

Nuneaton & Bedworth again has the highest number of nursing homes rated “Requires Improvement” (3), followed by North Warwickshire, Rugby, Warwick, and Stratford (2 each). While there is a solid base of good-quality provision, the proportion of homes requiring improvement is higher than in residential care, indicating a continued need for quality oversight and targeted intervention.

Overall, the quality of care home provision in Warwickshire remains strong, with no homes rated “Inadequate” and the majority achieving a “Good” rating. However, the presence of homes rated “Requires Improvement” across both residential and nursing sectors highlights the importance of sustained quality assurance, provider engagement, and targeted support to ensure consistent standards across the market.

Summary of Occupancy

Sourced from the NECSU Capacity Tracker as of 30 June 2026
Vacancy data from the NECSU Capacity Tracker as at 30 June 2026, based on admittable vacancies only, indicates that Warwickshire's older people's care home market continues to have available capacity across both residential and nursing provision.

Overall, there are 179 admittable residential vacancies, equivalent to 6.7% of registered residential capacity, and 208 admittable nursing vacancies, equivalent to 8.4% of nursing capacity.

For residential care, the highest vacancy rates are in Nuneaton & Bedworth (8.8%) and Warwick (8.4%), while Rugby (2.4%) has the lowest level of immediately available capacity.

For nursing care, vacancy rates are highest in Rugby (9.6%), Stratford (9.5%), and Warwick (9.3%), while North Warwickshire (4.9%) and Nuneaton & Bedworth (5.1%) have lower levels of available nursing capacity.

Note: Admittable vacancies represent beds that are immediately available for placement and exclude beds that are unavailable due to refurbishment, staffing constraints, infection control measures, or other operational reasons. This provides a more accurate indication of current market capacity.

 Overall, the data suggests that there is capacity available across both residential and nursing care markets for older people. However, the variation between districts highlights the importance of ongoing monitoring of local supply and demand dynamics to ensure sufficient capacity is available in the right locations and for the right level of need. 

Commissioning and Quality Assurance Approach

Our Commissioning and Quality Assurance teams continue to work proactively with providers to support service improvement. Through our ‘See, Hear and Act’ methodology, we gather intelligence from multiple sources to identify emerging quality themes and concerns. Where concerns are identified, we undertake targeted quality assurance activity, which may include provider visits to validate findings.

Where necessary, we implement Service Improvement Plans (SIPs) and escalate significant concerns to the Service Escalation Panel (SEP). Actions may include Voluntary Placement Stops (VPS), allowing providers time and space to implement improvements while safeguarding service users.