Council has 'work to do' on social care support

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) also said Swindon Borough Council had staff who were "proud of their role"

More work needs to be done to support a town's vulnerable adults, a government watchdog has ruled.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said Swindon Borough Council had a "clear vision" and staff "proud of their role", but added there was "further work to do to ensure people are consistently receiving the support they need".

Some unpaid carers felt support was "inconsistent", the assessment team also found.

Councillor Ray Ballman said improvements are being made, adding: "We know we have work to do to reduce the delays in assessments and reviews and speed up how we provide support."

The CQC visited Swindon in March and gave the department a score of 62 - one point below a 'Good' rating.

Nine areas, including safeguarding and assessing people's needs, were analysed.

Chris Badger, CQC's chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said: "We found committed leadership and a workforce that was motivated by a clear vision that everyone should have a home, a friend and a purpose.

"We saw they'd made encouraging inroads in addressing delays and backlogs; however, it does have further work to do to ensure people are consistently receiving the support they need."

Some unpaid carers also reported that support from the council was "inconsistent", but it was acknowledged that the council was "clearly listening and responding" to feedback.

Ms Ballman says she is confident the next CQC inspection date will see the service move from "requires to improvement" to "good".

She added: "I'm extremely proud of all our staff who work in our adult social care department because they do a tremendous job on a daily basis to support our residents.

"To miss out on a 'Good' grading by one point shows we are firmly on the right track and the CQC's report recognises a lot of the positive work that is being carried out to underpin our vision of everyone having 'a home, a friend and a purpose'."

The CQC report will be discussed by the council's cabinet on Wednesday 22 October.