CQC Publishes Pilot Adult Social Care Assessment Results

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published the findings of its 5 pilot assessments, assessing how local authorities meet their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act (2014) is a new responsibility for CQC.

During the pilots, the CQC looked at 9 of its quality statements to assess how well each local authority is meeting its responsibilities, enabling them  to give an indicative rating.

• Birmingham City Council – indicative rating of good
• Lincolnshire County Council – indicative rating of good
• North Lincolnshire Council – indicative rating of good
• Nottingham City Council – indicative rating of requires improvement
• Suffolk County Council – indicative rating of good

The assessments revealed some similar themes across all 5 local authorities. These included:

• Outcomes for people were better where there was good partnership working, including with voluntary and community partners as well as health partners.
• Integrated working around discharging people from hospital was working and had improved the flow out of hospitals.
• Staff tended to stay with a local authority when they felt valued, had learning and development opportunities, and where there was a positive culture.
• There were different practices across the 5 local authorities in how they worked with young people who are transitioning from children’s services to adult services, so young people’s experiences were varied.

The CQC has said it will now be implementing this learning into its formal assessments of all 153 local authorities with adult social care responsibilities. These will start from December 2023, pending government approval.

Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board said: “This is an important moment for adult social care, a lot of work from across the sector has gone into the preparation and execution of these assessments.”

“We want to thank the councils who put themselves forward for this pilot programme and ensuring other councils can be ready and supported as the assessments progress. It is clear CQC has taken valuable learning from the process and is committed to improving their approach for full rollout.”

“The LGA will meet with the pilot councils to understand their views on their indicative rating as we move into full rollout.”