First inspections of adult social care services see Westminster given the thumbs up
By Ben Lynch, Local Democracy Reporter
Westminster council’s adult social care services department has been rated ‘Good’ by the healthcare watchdog, in one of London’s first inspections since greater scrutiny was brought in.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessed nine areas spread across four wider themes in its review of the central London council’s provision.
All nine were graded a score of three from a possible four, indicating a ‘Good’ standard across the board. The Health and Social Care Act 2022 saw the CQC given responsibility for inspecting councils’ adult social care services.
The watchdog has long inspected care homes, doctors’ surgeries and hospitals, but the duty to assess social care came into effect in April 2023.
Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Public Health and Voluntary Sector at Westminster council, Nafsika Butler-Thalassis, said the result “stands as a reflection of our unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes for our service users”.
James Bullion, the CQC’s Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care and Integrated Care, said the council should be “really pleased” with the assessment, and that it has “built a great foundation on which to progress their current plans and make further changes”.
At an inspection carried out this summer, the watchdog praised areas including the council’s support for unpaid carers and its work with partners to deliver reablement services, enabling people to live on their own following hospital discharge.
The watchdog also noted the council’s work towards reducing inequalities in its workforce through removing gender and ethnicity pay gaps.
But, the CQC drew attention to a number of areas of improvement. These included gaps in how the council was reaching out to carers from seldom heard groups, some people finding the process of assessing their needs as confusing, and mental health provision and support not always being appropriate for all levels of needs.
Pictured top: Westminster council’s offices in Victoria Street (Picture: LDRS)