Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Adults and Cultural Services, the purpose of which was to provide an update of the progress made to deliver the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Improvement Plan, prior to submission of the progress update to the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) due 17 June 2026. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 10’ is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion, the following points were made:

i.          For such reports in future, Members requested a traffic light system, or similar, to clearly show how delivery against the Improvement Plan was being measured, what the targets were, or what the Department aimed to achieve, which would provide clearer oversight and identify areas at risk of delay.

ii.          In response to a query, officers advised that paragraph 35 of the report summarised work on equity of access and experience, including rural communities. Access to services for unpaid carers in rural areas would be considered through the draft Carers Strategy and future commissioning, with dementia support cited as an example. Officers would consider how rural initiatives could be presented more clearly in future reports.

iii.          The Healthwatch representative described the Improvement Plan as an ongoing journey and asked how people’s experience of services would differ from around 15 months earlier. Officers advised that progress had been made on assessment timeliness, with short and long-term actions to reduce waiting times, improve understanding of waiting lists, and strengthen monitoring.

iv.          Members were advised that 551 people were awaiting an Occupational Therapy assessment at the end of April 2026, down from 605 at the end of March 2026. Work was also taking place through the Customer Service Centre to improve how people contacted and accessed the Council.

v.          The Healthwatch representative referred to the Waiting Well policy in Appendix A and asked what Members could expect from the work. Officers advised that staff engagement and audit feedback was informing updated guidance, tools and practice. Future guidance would set expectations on waiting times, ambitions for people awaiting assessment, and a risk-based approach to prioritising referrals using professional judgement.

vi.          The Healthwatch representative asked how engagement and communication feedback was being used. Officers advised that the Council’s engagement panel, involving people who used services, had informed work such as the Dementia Strategy. A staff engagement panel had also been established to gather staff views on service delivery.

vii.          Officers added that staff communications and briefings were highlighting changes to reporting dashboards and improvement plan activity. Staff engagement was also informing telephone system changes, expected by August 2026.

viii.          A Member asked how many further appointments were needed to increase Reablement Team capacity, when previous efficiency work had identified reablement savings, and asked how this related to the planned staffing increase. Officers explained that the CQC had identified a need to strengthen reablement capacity, including weekend working and discharges and that rolling recruitment was underway to ensure capacity of the team was kept up into the future. The efficiency work built on increased capacity to maximise independence, support discharge and prevent avoidable hospital admissions. Officers were requested to provide further detail to Members on remaining vacancies to be appointed to after the meeting.

ix.          On carers, officers reported that consultation on the draft Carers Strategy was due to conclude during Carers Week, with results to inform the final strategy, actions and future service design. The existing carers contract required strengthening, and a business case was being developed for the future service offer and expected impact.

x.          Members were advised that £600,000 had been identified for carers as part of CQC improvement activity, comprising £200,000 per year for three years to support voluntary sector provision. Officers acknowledged the challenge of balancing delivery of the improvement plan with departmental savings.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the report be noted.

b)    That officers be requested to consider how rural initiatives could be presented more clearly in future reports.

c)     That the Director of Adults and Cultural Services be requested to provide information on the remaining recruitment requirements to the Reablement Team to Members.