CARE for the elderly and vulnerable adults in Worcestershire is better than in most of the rest of Britain.

In a third annual survey by Trustedcare.co.uk, the standard of care homes in the county, as assessed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) keeps Worcestershire, and neighbouring Herefordshire, in the top five counties.

And while Worcestershire had dropped down a place, in the rankings, from second to third, in fact more of the county’s care homes are being assessed as good or outstanding.

This year, according to TrustedCare.co.uk, the CQC said 93 per cent of Worcestershire’ care homes were good or better – and seven percent need improvement.

That pits it just behind Hereford, which has a god mark at 94 per cent, and Rutland, which has a similar mark, although with only 22 care homes in that county, it’s something of an odd case.

Last year Worcestershire was second only to Herefordshire, but then 89 per cent of its care homes were assesses as good or better, with 11 per cent ‘needing improvement.”

A spokeswoman for TrustedCare.co.uk said: “It is good news for people living in Worcestershire and Herefordshire, over the past 3 years, they have retained their top five spot for care quality. Rutland currently holds the top spot with 94.4 per cent of services receiving a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ rating. It could be argued that Rutland is a slight anomaly as it is such a small county, with only 22 care services. To put this into context the average amount of care services per county is 520.”

Councillor Adrian Hardman, Worcestershire County Council’s cabinet member with responsibility for Adult Social Care said: "It is a moment of real pride for Worcestershire to learn that we have retained our status as one of the best five counties nationwide for care quality, over the last three years. It highlights how seriously Worcestershire County Council, Clinical Commissioning Groups and Worcestershire's excellent care homes work together and demonstrate a robust commitment to providing high quality services to the citizens of Worcestershire, particularly the most vulnerable."