Senior managers at the National Care Standards Commission have been accused of being "institutionally abusive", letters sent to Community Care reveal.

An open letter from a member of staff to NCSC chairperson Anne Parker and board members claims staff morale is "worryingly poor" and there is a "lack of trust and confidence in senior management".

Work is "unrealistic", "unachievable" and "under-resourced", with targets being less about protecting people than scoring services, it says.

A second letter from a London-based inspector who has been in care and inspection work for 25 years claims inspectors regularly work six to 10 hours a week on top of their contract and that it has "become the norm in many offices that a 10- or 11-hour day is worked just to keep on top of a routine caseload". Staff morale is low and the commission is in danger of either losing the goodwill of staff or seeing staff sickness levels rise significantly, it adds.

The NCSC took over registration and inspection of social care providers in April 2002 but the government then announced it would be replaced by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, which is expected to start operating next year.

In response to the letters, NCSC chief executive Ron Kerr e-mailed staff saying that, in an organisation with more than 2,000 employees, "not everyone will feel content and enthusiastic in their working environment all of the time".