The quality of care in Britain is now so dire Ruthie Henshall says she would rather be dead than dumped in a home.

The I'm a Celebrity star watched helplessly as her mother died helpless and alone and is now a vociferous campaigner for better standards.

Actress Ruthie, 57, was banned from hugging or holding former teacher Gloria who battled Parkinson's and dementia before her death aged 87 in 2021.

Deeply scarred by the harrowing experience, she said: "I have already asked my sister, 'please take me out'. If I have dementia, and I have any capacity, there is no way I am going into a care home because there is no way I am giving that burden to my children. What I witnessed and what went through with mum was so horrific."

Mum-of-two and West End star Ruthie's ordeal of being locked out while her mother languished inside a care home during the pandemic shone a spotlight on the broken sector.

It inspired her to speak up for the voiceless and hundreds of thousands of relatives who demanded action.

As draconian diktats enforced by care homes, often on a whim, banned hundreds of thousands from seeing dying loved ones, Ruthie joined grassroots campaign group Rights for Residents as ambassador.

At the time Gloria was isolated and in desperate need of love and support. Today Ruthie continues to fight for unrestricted access and a law change in her mum's memory.

Gloria's Law would give everyone a legal right to a care supporter, a close friend or relative, available in all health and care settings to provide emotional support, advocacy, and essential human contact when needed. The appeal has so far been ignored by ministers, both of the previous and current government, but the need remains as urgent as ever.

In a blistering evisceration of a crisis laid bare by an Express probe into the sector, Ruthie said: "The appalling thing is absolutely no one took stock of just how bad things were or addressed some of the things that were going on. They still haven't and they are still going on. There are still people who are not allowed in care homes and the problem very much hasn't gone away. That is why we need Gloria's Law.

"And what people don't realise is it could be you, it could be me, waking up in one of these sub-par care homes not being allowed to see loved ones. How is that going to feel?

"It hasn't got anything to do with Covid. The pandemic just highlighted it and gave them [providers] control and power to exercise when they felt like it."

Ruthie became the face of a nationwide campaign during her frail mother's desperate plight during which she was banned from hugging or holding her.

Gloria's symptoms rapidly deteriorated during lockdown and Ruthie, 57, was only able to see her through a window until she fought to be allowed in.

The Care Quality Commission [CQC] gave Spring Lodge Care Home in Ipswich, Suffolk, a requires improvement rating in September 2021 and the same ranking after an unannounced inspection the following year.

It said residents were not consistently protected from the risk of harm, their health was not adequately monitored, and the service was not consistently well led.

Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting branded the CQC "unfit for purpose" in an effective vote of no confidence in a regulator run by £285,000-a-year chief executive Sir Julian Hartley and £65,000-a-year chair Ian Dilks.

Last month the pair were censured after it emerged an unusable IT system meant there is now a backlog of 5,000 safeguarding issues flagged by care staff and concerned families as the quango lunches from one crisis to the next.

The scandal prompted Lib Dem MP Layla Moran, Chair of Parliament's Health and Social Care Committee, to say: "We were shocked to hear how bad things have got at the CQC and it was incomprehensible to hear [Chair Ian Dilks] tell us that he did not have regular meetings with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care under the last two governments.

"The CQC told us the organisation currently has a backlog of around 5,000 notifications of concerns, which include 'major issues of concern' from staff and members of the public. It is not acceptable that concerns being flagged to the regulator are going months without a response. We will be closely following what work the regulator does to remediate its current state and restore its credibility."

Latest figures show there are 14,516 registered care homes yet only 13,844 are currently rated.

Data unearthed by this newspaper shows 143 are inadequate, 2,472 requires improvement, 10,634 good and 595 outstanding.

It means some 672 care homes under the jurisdiction of the CQC are without a rating, with families of loved ones inside having no idea of the official assessment of care standards provided.

If a home is rated requires improvement it can mean residents' safety, health or wellbeing is at risk. Inadequate could see it placed in special measures, or even shut down.

West End star Ruthie's father David died in 2020 aged 90, but restrictions meant only six family members were allowed to attend his funeral service.

She said the abandonment of older people across Britain during their final moments is something that will never be forgotten, describing it as "criminal".

Ruthie led a march on Downing Street in September 2021 demanding the immediate enactment of Gloria's Law but the then Government refused, saying it had faith in care homes and the CQC to let families in.

Ruthie said: "What has happened - and is still going on - is criminal. It's clear homes and providers now hold all the power. Families trusted the Government and CQC to oversee them, to facilitate access, but they haven't. That is what angers me and so many families. We feel fobbed off. It's like everybody is passing the buck, pointing the finger somewhere else, and nobody is saying - as they should be - this is our problem and this is what we are going to do about it."

A spokesman for Kingsley Healthcare said: "Spring Lodge's requires improvement inspection was in 2022. Although we are still awaiting re-inspection, the fact the CQC last year permitted our registration as a nursing home, a process that involves careful scrutiny, is clear evidence that we run a good service."