Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessment

Improving people’s quality of life, promoting protection for vulnerable people and supporting carers are all things that KCC’s adult social services is strong in, according to a report issued on 24 November 2010.

The 2010 assessment of KCC’s adult social services by the national inspector for health and social care, the Care Quality Commission, said Kent Adult Social Services (KASS) was ‘performing well’ overall.

This is a considerable achievement because the assessment came at a time when KASS was going through considerable change.

"Performing excellently"

Adult social services provides services and support for older people, people with a learning disability, those with a physical or sensory disability and those with mental health needs.

‘Improving quality of life’ (being able to take part in activities and transport as well as being safe and secure at home) was one of three areas where KCC is indicated as performing excellently.

The other two areas were ‘making a positive contribution’ (keeping people involved in local activities, in developing policy and in making decisions) and economic wellbeing (being able to get the income and resources to meet needs, have a good diet and housing, and be part of family/community life).

KCC also received commendations in four particular areas where it has strengths.

A commitment to taking a personal approach for each person receiving social care and preventative services.
Making Safeguarding (protecting vulnerable adults from harm) a priority and publicising it.
Working in partnership with the NHS and both private and voluntary organisations to develop better ways of supporting people with social care needs.
Supporting carers by assessing and reviewing their needs.

Areas we can improve

The commission looks at four other areas as well and KCC was assessed as ‘performing well’ in each of them. Alongside these, it also identified areas where it felt KCC adult social services could improve. They were:

improving the way it reports installing adaptations to people’s homes, equipment that helps them live independently and securely in their own home
making sure that everyone who has a care package gets an annual review
making sure that, by April 2011, 30% of those who are eligible have a personal budget
improving the way adult protection cases are reported on the council’s social care computer system
developing a way to keep track of how many independent sector organisations have taken up safeguarding training
developing an appropriate way of getting feedback from people who have been the subject of safeguarding alerts. These are people who have been identified as being vulnerable to harm and needing help to stay protected.

An action plan is already in place to make improvements in these areas. The action plan will be monitored regularly by KCC adult social services and by the CQC.

Graham Gibbens, KCC Cabinet Member

KCC Cabinet member for Kent Adult Social Services, Graham Gibbens, said:

“Being commended for Safeguarding, our support for carers and the work we do to improve quality of life is good news.

“We have been making demanding challenges of adult social services in the last year. It has had to make sure that it works highly efficiently way, saving money from the public purse, while also providing quality help, support, guidance and information for all those who have a social care need – and for carers as well.

“This assessment shows what an excellent job is being done and I would like to say a big thank you to all members of staff at every level for their continued efforts and commitment.

“The hard work will continue, especially in those areas where we can make further improvements, to be as effective and efficient as we can be – and our relationships with our partners will also continue, in the public, independent and voluntary sectors, to give the best we can for the people of Kent.”

Oliver Mills, Director for Kent Adult Social Services

KCC managing director for Kent Adult Social Services, Oliver Mills, said: “We are all in this work to give Kent people the very best possible support when they need it. I would like to thank everyone from the front line to the support staff for the way they have worked with such dedication in the last year. The assessment shows that we have done this well.

“The commission’s report shows that we are effective in the way we meet people’s needs. The areas that we will be concentrating on in the action plan also show that there is no place for complacency. Our continued effort and our expertise will help us to make improvements.

“Effective work with our partners has been vital as we have continue to improve the way social care is provided in Kent.”

Read the full Assessment of Performance Report 2009/10 (PDF, 88kb).