A new report from the the Care Quality Commission (CQC), has said Ealing Council requires improvement in how it meets its responsibilities to people needing access to adult social care and support.
In its performance review of the council, the CQC assessment team highlighted a number of areas where the council does well as well as highlighting concerns where improvements are needed.
The report revealed that in 2022/3 around 4,570 people recieve long-term adult social care support and 1,130 people access short-term adult social care support. It also raised concerns over how satisfied people are with the help they get.
In the report, an adult social care survey (October 2022/23) showed only 55.1% people in the borough with care and support needs were satisfied with care and support, which is lower than the England average of 61.21%. Ealing Council said over the last 12 months improvements have been made but the data was not published at the time of the CQC assessment.
The Commission also highlighted that only 66.5% of people felt that they had control over their daily life which was much less compared to the England average of 77.21%
In its findings, the CQC report said: “People and their carers gave us mixed feedback of their experiences of local authority care and support services. Some people we spoke to said it was difficult to get in touch with the local authority. There were concerns about an overreliance on online information, and that the local authority’s website was difficult to navigate. People were more positive about the services they received, including commissioned services to meet their needs and reablement.”
It added: “People told us they waited for equipment and adaptations that supported them to remain independent at home. People were generally positive about their assessment and equipment once in place. Young people moving to adults’ services and people coming out of hospital were generally positive about their support. Some carers told us that they did not receive the longer-term support they needed to be able to effectively meet their needs.
“Carers told us there was some support available to them in the area, but that support could be difficult to access. People often had choice of care providers, especially when considering homecare provision. People told us they received care and support that considered their cultural, ethnic, and religious needs.”
James Bullion, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said of the findings: “At this assessment, we found the London Borough of Ealing were committed to inclusivity and innovation, with clear strategies aimed at addressing inequalities and improving outcomes for all residents. Ealing’s reablement services, which help people to remain independent, provide effective care and achieve significant results. However, significant delays in assessments, as well as accessing care and support, remain key challenges.
“We were pleased to see efforts to include people in decision-making through co-production groups and strong partnerships with community organisations. These steps are helping Ealing design services around the needs and preferences of its diverse population.
“National data on short- and long-term support shows that 90.48% of people aged 65 and over remained at home 91 days after discharge from hospital, significantly outperforming the England average of 82.18%. Staff worked closely with health professionals to tailor reablement support to individual needs such as through the provision of mobility aids. This helped support people regain independence after a stay in hospital and avoid longer term support where possible.
Mr Bullion added: “However, there are areas where Ealing needs to make improvement. The median waiting time for an assessment of needs is 17 weeks, and although waiting lists have shown improvement over recent months, challenges to sustain this remain. Some staff have expressed concerns that the service is struggling to meet demand, with low staff numbers significantly impacting the speed at which residents can have their needs assessed by the borough.
“People’s experiences of accessing adult social care in Ealing were mixed. While some described positive assessment experiences with knowledgeable and caring staff, others highlighted delays and challenges in communication. Once care was in place, people said it generally supported their preferences, but there were opportunities to improve how services connected them to further support in the community such as with voluntary groups which may enrich their lives.
“Overall, the London Borough of Ealing has demonstrated a clear understanding of the areas requiring improvement and is committed to addressing these challenges. We look forward to returning to see how their plans mature and the positive changes this will have on the community.”
In a statement to EALING.NEWS on the CQC report, Councillor Polly Knewstub, Ealing Council cabinet member for healthy equal lives said: “We are very proud of the work our adult social care staff do every day and the passion they have in supporting the communities we serve in Ealing. We are incredibly disappointed by the outcome of this new inspection process and do not believe it reflects the quality of our services, or the experience of the residents that use them.
“While we know our strengths, we are also really ambitious and driven to continually make our services better; to find new ways to connect communities and give people in Ealing more choice and control over how they meet their social care needs.
“Ealing Council has a strong track record of opening our doors to external partners inviting them to provide challenge and help us improve how we support local communities but sadly this CQC report provides limited feedback about specific changes to our services or the way we work. In contrast, our recent Local Government Association (LGA) Corporate Peer Review in January 2023 led to really useful opportunities for learning. We will be asking them to come back and review our progress and help us identify any further areas for improvement.
“The inspectors identified a range of strengths including our effective partnership arrangements, safeguarding of vulnerable people, our person-centred approach considering their individual and cultural needs, our support for carers and our ambition to reduce inequality. I was really pleased to see that they recognised social care staff who are proud to care for the people of Ealing, they are committed, knowledgeable and that there is a positive culture of learning and innovation; something I see every day from our brilliant adult social care teams.
“While this rating is disappointing, we have every confidence that our plans and our approach, working with our communities, will continue to build quality adult social care services that make a real difference to the lives of our residents.”
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