Executive Director of Adult Social Services responds to CQC assessment of Norfolk County Council Adult Social Services

Following the publication of the Care Quality Commission’s latest assessment of Norfolk County Council’s Adult Social Services Directorate, Ian Wake, Executive Director of Adult Social Services, has shared an update reflecting on the findings, progress made to date, and the directorate’s ongoing transformation programme. The statement below outlines key messages from the report and the next steps for improvement, emphasising continued partnership across the sector.

“This morning, the CQC published their report following their inspection of Norfolk County Council’s Adult Social Services Directorate which took place in July this year. The overall rating was a high Requires Improvement, with a score of 56%, which is only six points away from Good. If you’d like to, you can read the full report here.

The report identifies a number of areas of improvement and recognises the work already undertaken to make the changes necessary. We’ve already delivered improvements on assessment waiting times and reviews but recognise that there’s more to do to further reduce the time that service users are waiting. All the other areas identified by inspectors are already built into our transformation project and have clear plans for improvement in place. We’re building a strong culture of continual improvement, testing our approach and learning how we can improve through conversations with all stakeholders, whilst monitoring key data.

Our directorate has made huge progress in the last six months, and our ambitious vision for transforming our services was recognised by the inspectors as was the strength of my new leadership team. The transformation programme, which we’ve already begun delivering, will empower residents and communities to live their best life as they define it, by prevention, shifting from a transactional care management approach to one based on relational practice that connects residents with community assets, integrating support around the resident at neighbourhood level, improving commissioning, and learning continuously. I look forward to sharing more about this approach with some of you at the Achieving Care Together Conference early next year, and I’d be delighted to share our vision with you further.

As ever, thank you for your partnership in this work. It’s vital that we continue to work together to provide the services and support that residents need, and I look forward to continuing to work more closely with each of you as we look ahead.”

Read Norfolk Care Associations statement on the CQC report here.