A WATCHDOG'S plan to name and shame the worst-performing care homes and nurseries has been backed by politicians who said it is "the public's right" after a series of failings.

The Care Inspectorate is to alert the media to the country's lowest-scoring care facilities as well as highlight the best for the first time. The move is designed to help raise standards.

The push has been largely welcomed but sparked questions over the wider issue of the funding of care.

A spokesman for Scottish Care, which represents independent social care services in Scotland, said it supports "any initiative that supplies the public with clear information and assists them in making choices".

However, he added: "In these challenging economic times with constraints on public funding, some operators find making the necessary additional investments in workforce and the quality of care more difficult to sustain than others."

Neil Findlay, Scottish Labour's health spokesman, also pointed to funding concerns. He said: "The public must have the right to know how care homes are performing and whether they are providing good quality care for our loved ones so naming poorly performing care homes is a welcome initiative. Funding pressures are rife across the health and care system; we cannot have a system based on the lowest pay and minimal training for staff which then impacts on standards of care. Our elderly and vulnerable deserve better."

Jackson Carlaw, Scottish Conservative health spokesman, said that "too many families are being badly let down by certain failing care facilities".

He added: "Anything that pulls up standards across the board is to be welcomed."