News-Strengthening adult social care across County Durham

Our adult social care offering was rated as 'good' in August following an assessment by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Ensuring people have access to adult social care

As part of the process, the CQC assessed the authority in nine different areas across four themes including leadership, support, safety and its work with people.

The majority of areas were found to be of a good standard, with the report praising staff for how well they meet their responsibilities to ensure people have access to adult social care and support.

The assessment found leaders and staff to be proud of the work they did and having a good understanding of the health and care needs of people living in the area. Staff were also commended for working well with partners to agree plans and priorities for people living across County Durham.

Addressing areas for improvement

Although some areas were highlighted in the report as needing improvement, a Service Improvement Plan has already been developed to address these.

The plan, which will be presented to Cabinet next week, focuses on the team's aspirations to make sure existing high-quality services continuously improve and to look for new and innovative ways to meet the needs of the county's residents.

Some of the ways this will be delivered include promoting carer experiences and outcomes, increasing the availability of support measures around homelessness and enhancing the use and timeliness of advocacy.

Other aspects of the plan include carrying out work to understand inequalities in adult social care.

We will also aim to ensure that information and advice is more inclusive and easier to access, with clear objectives to be agreed to promote equality, diversity and inclusion.

Setting high standards 

Cllr Chris Hood, Cabinet member for adult and health services, said: "We were really pleased with the outcome of the CQC assessment earlier this year. This reflected the hard work of all our staff and the efforts they go to in order to provide the best possible care for our residents.

"However, we also recognise that there is always room for improvement, and we want to foster a culture where we continue to learn and develop, celebrate our success and take action to improve where required.

"We hope the development of the Service Improvement Plan will help to instil confidence in our service users that we are setting high standards and always looking for new and innovative ways to meet the needs of our residents."

Cabinet will be asked to note the outcome of the CQC assessment, approve the Service Improvement Plan and agree to annual update reports on the plan when it meets next week.