Getting worse and needing great reform (12)

I believe the answer is:

degenerating

'getting worse' is the definition.
(degenerating is a kind of getting worse)

'needing great reform' is the wordplay.
'reform' indicates anagramming the letters (letters in a new form).
'needing'+'great'='needinggreat'
'needinggreat' with letters rearranged gives 'DEGENERATING'.

'and' is the link.

(Another definition for degenerating that I've seen is " Deteriorating".)

Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app