Good news for adult social care in Coventry

Coventry’s Council leader said he is really pleased about the rating, which follows a detailed inspection of local adult social care services in the city.

Cllr George Duggins, Leader of Coventry City Council, said: “I’m absolutely delighted. Many of us will be impacted by Adult Social Care Services at some stage in our lives. That is why it is such a crucial part of Council services.

“I’d like to congratulate my colleague Cllr Linda Bigham who worked tirelessly as Cabinet Member with senior managers to help lead the services.

“Although we would be the first to acknowledge that not everyone has the quality of experience through Adult Social Care that we aspire to, the outcome of the inspection demonstrates that we are getting it right for many people and through the compassion and commitment of our workforce, who are a credit to the service, we are confident in ability to further improve.

“We also believe this reflects really well on the way we work with other services and key partners including University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire and the Integrated Care Board. So much of what we do is partnership work - integrating services in the best interest of local people and service users.”

Cllr Linda Bigham, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, said: “The overall positive findings of the inspection is testimony to the hard work, dedication and enthusiasm of all those involved in the delivery of Adult Social Care in Coventry, to which I deeply appreciate.  I am incredibly proud of having the privilege of being Cabinet Member for a service area that supports some of our most vulnerable residents.”

Chris Badger, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said: “Leaders and staff should be pleased with the many positive findings of our report.

“Their work had a positive impact on people’s lives, and we look forward to seeing how their plans further develop and improve access to services.”

Pete Fahy, Director of Care, Health and Housing said: “I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to this inspection of our services; people who work in Adult Social Care and the wider City Council, partner organisations, people with care and support needs and unpaid carers. The Care Quality Commission have provided us with a detailed report which we appreciate. There are lots of positives but we want to use the inspection as a baseline from which to continue to improve in all aspects of our service delivery. 

The Care Quality Commission (CQC), has rated Coventry City Council as good, in how well they are meeting their responsibilities to ensure people have access to adult social care and support under the Care Act (2014).  

CQC has a duty under the Health and Care Act 2022 to assess how local authorities work with their communities and partners to meet their responsibilities. This includes promoting the wellbeing and independence of working age disabled adults, older people, and their unpaid carers to reduce their need for formal support where appropriate. Where support is needed it should provide people with choice and control of how their care needs are met.

CQC looked at nine quality statements spread across four themes to assess how well Coventry City Council is meeting its responsibilities in order to arrive at the rating of good. CQC has given each of these nine areas a rating out of four on the scale of Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement and Inadequate.   Seven areas were rated as Good with two being rated as Requires Improvement. 

Pete added: “Our percentage score is 70% which compares well to other local authorities for which reports have been published.”

“This also demonstrates the work our staff do, day in day out, to support people in Coventry with care and supports needs and with unpaid carers.  I’ve spoken to colleagues and told them that their enthusiasm, commitment and dedication really came across to the inspection team and is reflected in the inspection report and overall judgement.” 

Specific comments within the CQC report being:

• Coventry had a range of services and resources in place to reduce people’s future needs for care and support and help them remain as independent as possible.

• Coventry’s commitment to working in partnership and constantly learning to improve services stood out, and people told us they were happy with the care and support they received.

• Staff teams told us there were strong pathways in place with good communication between teams which supported appropriate care and support for people.

• Staff told us there was a learning culture where their views were listened to and respected. They told us they were being supported by colleagues, managers and senior leaders, especially when working with complex situations.

• There was strategic alignment between the local authority and health partners. Integrated arrangements were supporting strong partnership working and provided smoother experiences of health and social care support.

• Partners also told us person-centred approaches to assessments and reviews were ensuring people had the correct support. They told us staff were not only removing risks for people but were compassionate and mindful of the support people needed.

• Areas identified as requiring further improvement include access to services within the city for those with specialist requirements or high support needs and continuing to deliver improvements in our support to unpaid carers.

Pete added: “The report lists a lot of positives as well as areas we need to work on to continue to improve, but our staff should all feel proud of what we have collectively achieved.”