Council told to improve adult social care

Inspectors acknowledged Middlesbrough had its "fair share of challenges"

A council has been told to improve its adult social care provision by the care watchdog.

Middlesbrough Council was rated as "requires improvement" by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in how well it met its responsibility to make sure people had access to help and the quality of the support it provided.

Inspectors said people were "satisfied" with their experiences overall but some had faced long waiting times which impacted their wellbeing, while unpaid carers said information was not always accessible or easy to understand.

Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke said the council missed out on a "good" rating by the "finest of margins".

Inspectors looked at how well the authority worked with people, how well it provided support, its leadership and how it ensured safety in the system.

The authority got an overall score of 62% from the CQC.

A score of 63% - 87% would move the rating up to "good".

Overall, unpaid carers spoke of a negative experience, inspectors said.

'Making steps to improve'

Several people also experienced long waiting times whilst attempting to make contact with the local authority in the first place and then for certain services.

But inspectors said most people felt positively supported when moving through services.

The provision of equipment to help people stay in their own homes for as long as possible was also praised.

Inspectors acknowledged Middlesbrough has had its "fair share of challenges".

The council was one of 19 who applied for exceptional financial support in 2024/25.

CQC's chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care James Bullion said the council was already making steps to improve.

"The authority has built a solid foundation on which to make further improvements, and we look forward to returning to see how these plans mature," Mr Bullion said.

Cooke said the authority would use the CQC's feedback to provide "even better services" in the future.

He added: "The CQC found our Adult Social Care team had a really good understanding of the need in our area and set out clearly that we're already making improvements where they are required."