Almost one in three care homes in Norfolk or Suffolk deemed unsatisfactory

The analysis, conducted by old people's charity Independent Age and based on Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections, found that five local authorities have more than half of care homes rated 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement'.

In Norfolk 29.7pc were rated inadequate or requires improvement, while in Suffolk the figure was 29.2pc. .

The charity said the variation in quality was caused by low levels of funding by local authorities, difficulties recruiting staff, and low pay, as well as a lack of a support mechanism for improving struggling care homes.

Simon Bottery, director of policy at Independent Age, said: 'No one should be forced to live in an unsatisfactory care home but our analysis shows this is the grim reality in some parts of the country.

'The market is simply not providing a decent choice for older people and their families but there is little indication that local authorities or the Government are giving the problem the attention it deserves.

'Money is likely to be one cause but not the only one.

'The Government has an opportunity to address this in its upcoming Green Paper on social care but, in the meantime, councils must demonstrate that they understand the reasons for care home failures and are working to resolve them.'

Margaret Willcox, president elect of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), said: 'High quality care is essential to providing good adult social care to professional standards expected by elderly and disabled people and their families, who both need and deserve it.

'Most health and adult social care services in England are providing people with safe, high quality and compassionate care, as recognised in last year's annual CQC report, with 71% of adult social care services inspected rated as 'good'.

We are looking for case studies. Have you had a poor experience of a care home in the region? Email annabelle.dickson@archant.co.uk.