Westmorland and Furness adult social care provision 'requires improvements'
The Care Quality Commission have published a report
Adult social care services run by Westmorland and Furness Council have been rated as requiring improvement after inspectors raised a number of concerns.
A CQC report concluded that the authority was one point away from receiving a 'Good' score, but had a number of improvements to make.
Areas of concern include:
- Waiting times for the allocation of a social worker, and occupational therapy assessments and reviews, as people often had long wait times
- A lack of therapy services for people discharged from hospital due to demand
- Unpaid carers didn’t always have access to respite care for the person they were caring for
- There were gaps in specialist supported housing for people, including those with complex mental health needs and autistic people
- People in rural areas where access to care was an issue were at risk of feeling isolated
Areas of praise:
- The authority were learning from people's feedback and trying to make improvements
- Leaders created partnerships with the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector to develop initiatives such as the ‘take home and settle’ service
- Staff were fully trained
Council response
The council says they were pleased with some findings but will look to address problems identified.
Cllr Patricia Bell, Westmorland and Furness Council Cabinet member for Adults, Health and Care, welcomed the report, saying: “After less than three years as a new unitary council it is an achievement to come so close to a ‘Good’ rating overall, and for the CQC to recognise we are well on the way to being good in all areas.
“A huge amount of progress has already been made since CQC visited us nearly eight months ago. For example, we have continued to reduce the number of overdue support plan reviews, and have halved the number of people waiting for a social work or occupational therapy assessment - with nearly all people waiting no longer than 28 days for their assessment to commence.
“On waiting times, I would like to reassure residents that we prioritise and schedule our assessments carefully at first contact, and if anyone is going to be waiting longer than their agreed date they are contacted again to ensure they can safely wait a little longer.
“We are also particularly pleased that our strong partnerships with our NHS and voluntary sector colleagues were recognised, and the success of our hospital discharge partnership work highlighted, with the council providing new intermediate care beds in Barrow, and soon Kendal, and the NHS providing therapeutic support for patients.
“This week we have also heard about the severe financial pressures the council is under. Providing statutory adult social care and support for people with a physical or mental impairment or illness accounts for one third of the council’s £301m budget for the year ahead, and is under ever increasing demand pressure and the impact of an ageing population.
“A key part of our improvement plan is to have the right type of provision to support people to be as independent as possible for as long as possible, leading to better outcomes for people at the same time as helping us better manage demand and costs."