A PATIENT champion is concerned people will die after a national report said adult social care is approaching 'tipping point'.

The Care Quality Commission says pressures are rising across the sector which provides care for adults with needs arising from illness, disability, old age or poverty in a report published today.

In its annual assessment of the quality of health and adult social care in England, the CQC has found that despite challenging circumstances, as at July 31, 71 per cent of the adult social care services that CQC had inspected were rated ‘good’ and 1 per cent were ‘outstanding’.

However, some people still received very poor care - 2 per cent of adult social care services, 3 per cent of GP practices and 5 per cent of hospital core services were rated ‘inadequate’.

Figures show 47 per cent of providers that were re-inspected following a rating of ‘requires improvement’ were not able to improve their rating.

In 8 per cent of cases, the quality of care had deteriorated so much that the rating was downgraded to ‘inadequate’.

Peter Pinfield, chairman of Worcestershire's Healthwatch, said: "Things are really creaking. We as a county and a nation have to make all these really difficult decisions: Do we want to spend some more on health and social care?

"Other European countries and western countries do spend more than we do. Against that, people don't want their taxes increased. Unless we get some more resources we will not be able to cope and people will die."

Although three quarters of adult social care services that were initially rated ‘inadequate’ improved following re-inspection, nearly a quarter of re-inspected services were not able to improve their ratings.

Half of services rated as ‘requires improvement’ that were re-inspected (904 out of 1,850) had no change to their rating.

CQC data shows that a five-year period of steady increase in the number of nursing home beds – going from 205,000 beds in 2009 to 224,000 beds in March 2015 – has now stalled.

The CQC has also found too much acute care that has been ‘inadequate’ – particularly urgent and emergency services and medical services.

CQC chief executive David Behan said: “We are becoming concerned about the fragility of the adult social care market, with evidence suggesting that it might be approaching a ‘tipping point.

"The combination of a growing, ageing population, more people with long-term conditions and a challenging financial climate means increased need but reduced access. The result is that some people are not getting the help they need - which in turn creates problems in other parts of the health and care system, such as overstretched A&E departments or delays in people leaving hospital. "

CQC has concerns about the safety of acute mental health services.