Adult social care service 'requires improvement'

A county's adult social care provision has been rated as "requires improvement" by the health watchdog.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said Gloucestershire County Council's delays in liberty assessments, which decide if a patient should be restricted in a care home or hospital, could put some patients at risk of abuse.

Inspectors also felt care reviews were sometimes more focused on reducing support than meeting individual needs.

James Bullion, CQC's chief inspector for adult social care, said overall people had "mixed" experiences of the care system in the county.

However, he said council leaders had started the work they needed to do and were aware of where improvements needed to be made.

Inspectors also praised the council's "passionate and committed" staff who "worked well with partners" to make sure that people were discharged from hospital into care quickly.

Councillor Carole Allaway-Martin, cabinet member for adult social care at Gloucestershire County Council, said she was pleased that the CQC had recognised the progress they had made.

"We are investing an additional £5.6m into our transformation plans over the next two years in addition to £224.264m already committed to adult social care in the 2025 budget," she said.

"There is still work to be done but, as this report acknowledges, we know what action needs to be taken and this work is already well under way."

In the report, published on Friday, inspectors found some inequality in the county's adult social care system, with waiting times for assessments varying depending on where people lived.

Missed opportunities to introduce minor adaptions and equipment to peoples' homes to help them remain independent were also causing issues, the inspector said.

Unpaid carers said they would often find out that they were entitled to support from other organisations, rather than from the council, the report stated.

The CQC also said the council needed to tackle the backlog around waiting times as people gave consistently negative reviews about this.

Assessors found that the local authority worked with partners and the local community to organise a range of resources to promote independence and to reduce future care needs.

The authority had also identified the transition of young people into adults services as an area of improvement and had put plans in place to prepare young people for transition at an earlier stage.

"It was also good to see a number of initiatives aimed at supporting people to stay healthy and remain independent, with specialist resources for autistic people and people with a learning disability," said Mr Bullion.

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