Responding to the publication of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) State of Care report Dr Layla McCay, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said:

“It is deeply worrying that the CQC has raised many concerns in this report that need to be addressed, particularly in relation to children’s services. Diagnosing and treating problems early can prevent much more long-term issues developing, reducing the risk of young people developing long-term mental or physical illnesses.

“NHS leaders and their teams have been working incredibly hard to provide the care that patients need in the face of difficult conditions. As the CQC has found the NHS is experiencing a spike in children and young people coming forward for mental health treatment and we know that not everyone is getting access to the timely care they need. The lack of capital and flat revenue growth, highlighted in the recent report from Lord Darzi, has led to demand far outstripping capacity.

“The CQC also found that problems accessing care are exacerbated by deprivation, with people living in the poorest areas more likely to need urgent and emergency care, particularly for people attending for mental health reasons. We cannot escape from the reality that, as a nation, the UK is less healthy and the cost of living crisis and years of austerity have exacerbated this situation. The NHS is often left to deal with the fallout.

“Our members will continue to work hard to ensure services are as safe and accessible as possible. But improving performance is a long-term ambition and changes cannot be achieved overnight. We will continue to work closely with the CQC to support its organisational recovery so it can provide effective oversight of healthcare providers and systems.

“We welcome reports suggesting that the NHS’ funding will increase in the upcoming Budget. In order to turn around the health service and achieve the government’s ambitions it will need the right support to meet rising demand, hit performance targets and reform services.”