Council on track with adult social care delivery
WORK to ensure adult care services in County Durham continue to improve is progressing well,
councillors will be told next week.
Durham County Council’s adult social care offering was rated as Good in its last assessment by the
Care Quality Commission (CQC). The report praised staff for how well they meet their
responsibilities to ensure people have access to adult social care and support, and most areas within
the service were found to be of a good standard. Some areas were highlighted in the report as
needing improvement, and a Service Improvement Plan (SIP) was developed to address these.
Next Wednesday, 9 July, Cabinet will hear that good progress is being made on the SIP, with over a
third of the actions complete and those that are still in progress being on target.
Cllr Howard Brown, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for adult and health services, said:
“Following the inspection from the CQC, we have been striving to ensure all areas identified as
needing improvement obtain a Good rating, and those areas that are already Good at least retain
that judgement in our next CQC inspection.
“We are committed to learning and continually improving high-quality services to meet the needs
of the people of County Durham. This involves working closely with partners to help shape and
inform future work, as well as to prepare for our next assessment.”
Cabinet will hear that the council is developing an overarching adult social care strategy, as
recommended by the CQC. The strategy will set the strategic direction for adult social care in the
county. It will build on the County Durham Vision 2035 and the ‘Our People’ ambition within the
Council Plan – to help residents live long and independent lives and remain in good health for as long
as possible.
Work on the strategy is underway and progressing well and includes engagement activity with a
wide range of stakeholders.
Cabinet will hear the full details of the progress being made when it meets next week.
