North Lincolnshire's adult social services praised by watchdog

Inspectors praised North Lincolnshire Council's work with outside organisations to provide adult social care

North Lincolnshire's adult social services have been praised as providing a "good standard of care and support".

The council's services were inspected as part of a new pilot scheme by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Inspectors said the authority worked well with outside partners and "made good use of the voluntary sector".

But more work was needed help meet the needs of "groups who find access to local authority services more difficult", they said.

James Bullion, the CQC's chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said: "It was really impressive to see the ways in which they were not just meeting people's immediate care needs, but looking ahead to preventative healthcare, and how to provide more innovative, inclusive care."

In their report, inspectors highlighted North Lincolnshire Council's work on supporting independent living, finding that "people's needs were assessed in a timely way, focusing on their abilities, needs and wishes".

North Lincolnshire Council spends around 20% of its budget on adult social care

The report added: "The local authority's adult social care strategy focused on a preventative approach, based around promoting people's independence and support in the community.

"Through this approach, 93% of people who had received short term care and support no longer required support."

Inspectors said this figure was above the national average and "demonstrated the focus on support to enable people to maintain independence to prevent or delay long term needs for care".

However, inspectors also said there needed to be a "greater focus" on identifying and understanding the needs of "seldom heard groups and groups who find access to local authority services more difficult".

Inspectors from the CQC said that by 2043 the number of people in North Lincolnshire aged over 65 was expected to grow by 27%. Meanwhile, the number of people over 85 was expected to grow by 76%.

With that in mind, they said more work needed to be done to plan ahead for adult social services "to ensure this will enable them to meet the needs of the rapidly ageing population".

'Opportunity to learn'

Around 20% of North Lincolnshire Council's budget goes on adult social services, with more than £55m spent last year.

Richard Hannigan, deputy leader of North Lincolnshire Council and cabinet member for adults and communities, welcomed the report's findings.

He said the authority had volunteered to take part in the pilot in an effort to get "an external view of ourselves which, in turn, would drive up standards and provide a real insight into where we can improve".

"It is pleasing to get the external sense-check on the standards of care and support and, while challenging, the team has welcomed the process and, most importantly, the opportunity this has brought to learn," Mr Hannigan added.