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Recruitment and retention problems in social care are increasing risks to vulnerable people, according to the chair of the Commission for Social Care Inspection.

Denise Platt, launching CSCI’s first annual State of Social Care in England report, said organisations were failing to carry out proper checks on new employees because they were under so much pressure to fill vacant posts.

John Coughlan, vice-president of the Association of Directors of Social Services, said there should be a “zero tolerance” attitude on recruitment checks.

But he said it was important to distinguish between those organisations failing to carry out checks and those that did but did not keep proper personnel records.

• Report at www.csci.gov.uk