NURSING and residential homes for the elderly in Swindon are doing better than the national average, according to the Government’s watchdog .

A Care Quality Commission report to Swindon Borough Council’s adult’s health care and housing scrutiny committee tonight, shows 81 per cent of residential homes in the town are assesses as good or outstanding compared with 78 per cent nationally.

That breaks down to 16 per cent outstanding, compared to two per cent overall the country, and 65 per cent good, against 76 percent nationally.

Nineteen per cent of such homes in Swindon need improvement, compared with 21 per cent, and while two per cent of homes nationally are rated inadequate, none of the 37 residential care homes in Swindon are.

For the borough’s 14 nursing homes, 71 per cent are good or outstanding compared to a national average of 68 per cent, broken down to sew3ven per cent outstanding and 64 per cent good.

Twenty-one percent require improvement against a national figure of 28 per cent, but seven per cent, equating to one home, is rated inadequate while the national average id three percent.

The report says: “In addition to the CQC, Swindon council undertakes annual contract monitoring visits to support providers to make improvements. During 2018 one care home was rated inadequate but following intensive support from the borough council, with the CQC and Swindon Clinical Commissioning Group, the provider was able to make the necessary changes and was rated as requires improvement at the next inspection.”

The report adds that another homes was rated inadequate in September, and the council is using the same “level of intervention” to help it improve to at least a requires improvement “in the very near future.”

Swindon is also doing well on admissions to social care for adults. Whereas the target for permanent residential and care admission annually per 100,000 head of population is 433, Swindon made 306 admissions in 208 - the lower the figure the better.

Between April and December last year 105 people over the age of 65 were admitted to permanent care - 42 to a nursing home and 63 to residential care.

Eight adults under 65 were admitted to permanent care last year, two to nursing homes and six to residential homes. Again, this is lower than the target of 6.59 per 100,000 people.