Adult social services have improved, says CQC

8 Nov 10
Councils are commissioning better adult social care services, the Care Quality Commission said today
By Vivienne Russell

9 November 2010

Councils are commissioning better adult social care services, the Care Quality Commission said today.

Comparisons with the quality of care arranged by councils from 2008 and 2009 shows a growing improvement in services rated good or excellent, a CQC report said. But it warned that there were still considerable regional variations.

CQC chief executive Cynthia Bower said ‘We’re greatly encouraged to see the improvement in quality of adult social care and the growth in levels of provision.

‘However, we acknowledge there remain pockets of poor practice… The pressures of the current economic climate mean it is particularly important for providers and councils to work together to develop local care markets and anticipate future long-term care needs.’

The report, an analysis of the social care market, also found that care models had shifted, with people increasingly being supported to live in their own homes. In some parts of the country, such as London, services are geared more towards providing care to people in their homes rather than residential care. Direct payment schemes are also enabling people to design their own home care in new ways.

Further growth in the social care market was required if future needs were to be met, the CQC said. People with complex needs are living longer; by 2041 the number of older disabled people is expected to rise by 108%, according to research cited by the commission.

Commenting on the report, Jo Webber, deputy director of policy at the NHS Confederation, said: ‘We know that our increasingly ageing population is going to put additional pressures on health and council services in the years to come and we must be as prepared as possible to address this.  

‘The government’s allocation to social care in the Comprehensive Spending Review was a welcome short-term solution to the issue, but a longer-term model will be necessary to ensure the most vulnerable people in society continue to have access to the care they need.’

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