Adult social care 'needs improvement' - watchdog

Wakefield Council says it wants to improve its adult social care provision

Adult social care provision run by Wakefield Council must improve in some areas, a watchdog has said.

In its latest report, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated the authority as "requires improvement" in how well it was meeting its responsibilities to ensure people had access to adult social care and support.

The CQC said the shortfalls it had identified included an indication from council data that members of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities might not be accessing the support they needed.

Responding, Michelle Collins, the council's cabinet member for adults and health, said: "We're confident we can build on what's working and tackle the areas that need improvement."

According to the report, the CQC found "some shortfalls" across five areas in the social care provided by Wakefield Council: assessing people's needs; supporting people to lead healthier lives; equity in experience and outcomes; safe pathways; systems and transitions; and safeguarding.

However, the report found that the authority was "working hard to help people access adult social care support", and it was rated "good" in four areas: care provision, integration and continuity of care; partnership and communities; governance, management and sustainability; and learning, improvement and innovation.

'Improvement journey'

The inspection also concluded that council leaders "could make better use of data to help plan services based on evidence of need".

The CQC report added: "Partner organisations told inspectors the authority still needed to do more work to put care in place sooner for people ready to leave hospital.

"A shortage of nursing home placements in the area contributed to this."

James Bullion, the CQC's chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said Wakefield Council had come "very close" to achieving a "good" rating overall.

Leaders and staff at Wakefield Council "should be pleased with the many positive findings in our report", Mr Bullion said.

"We have told them where improvements are needed, and we look forward to seeing their progress," he added.

Collins said the report was "another step in our improvement journey".

"We're proud of the strengths that have been recognised, but we know we're not there yet," she said.

A Wakefield Council spokesperson said work had begun on the areas for improvement identified in the report.

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.