A&E departments across the UK are buckling under the pressure of a social care system that is reaching its “tipping point”, a health watchdog has warned.

Unprecedented strain on the care sector is having a significant knock on effect on hospital performance, particularly that of A&E departments, with 81 per cent of acute NHS trusts rated as either inadequate or requiring improvement in terms of safety.

Swindon’s Great Western Hospital is among those struggling to cope - a surprise inspection of their emergency department in April found a number of ongoing safety concerns. A warning notice imposed last year remains in place.

The CQC found that the state of the care sector is closely tied to wider problems in the NHS.

“There are indications that the sustainability of adult social care is approaching a tipping point,” it stated.

“Despite a 33 per cent rise in the number of people aged 85 and over in the last decade, the proportion of people receiving local authority-funded care had reduced”

The report found the number of beds in nursing homes was not increasing in line with demand and care home providers were pulling out of local authority contracts as funding did not cover the costs of care.

In Swindon, the provision of community health services was recently transferred to the GWH NHS Foundation Trust through an accelerated process after previous provider SEQOL reached a point where it was not financially viable for them to continue operating.

CQC chief executive David Behan said: “What’s happening, we think, is that where people aren’t getting access to care, and we are not preventing people’s needs developing through adult social care, is that they are presenting at A&E.

“Emergency admissions of older people are increasing and we also know that the number of delayed bed days in hospital are increasing.”

A spokesman for the GWH NHS Foundation Trust said: “One of our biggest challenges is making sure patients can leave hospital when they are well enough, in a timely, well-planned and supported way.

“A smooth discharge is reliant on the local health and social care system working together and we work closely with our social care partners, so that arrangements for further care and support can be made early on.

“As well as being involved in discussions around any on-going care needs, families, friends and carers can help by arranging transport and clothes, putting the heating on and stocking the home with food and medicine and arranging help around the home.”