An inquiry into the home care market should be carried out alongside a proposed investigation into the care home sector, say care providers.

Earlier this month, the Consumers' Association and 28 charities made a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading about the "dysfunctional"care home market and called for an inquiry (news, page 10, 11 December).

But the UK Home Care Association urged this week that any investigation should cover both markets, given their "interdependent" relationship.

The original complaint said there was evidence that fees paid by councils to providers were often insufficient to cover costs and were subsidised by relatives and residents.