Previous reference: Minute 87 (2016/2017)

The Inspection Manager, Adult Social Care, Care Quality Commission, will submit a report (Document “V”) which provides an update of their inspection activity across Adult Social Care.

Recommended –

That the report be noted.

(Sarah Drew – 0300 0616161)

The Inspection Manager, Adult Social Care, Care Quality Commission, submitted a report (Document “V”) which provided an update of their inspection activity across Adult Social Care in Bradford district.

The inspection Manager provided an overview of the current services being provided in the Bradford district as outlined in Document “V” and stated that the latest published ratings were available on the CQC website.

In response to Members’ questions, she stated that:

·         In 2017 a new protocol had been introduced for the CQC to work closely with providers who had continued to receive a ‘Requires Improvement’ rating, to help them improve.  This involved reviewing the management of the care home.

·         CQC officers met with providers to discuss the outcome of their inspection and worked with the local authority to provide advice and guidance.

·         Overall, performance across the district had improved as there were three ‘outstanding ‘ care homes whereas a year ago there had been only one; there had also been an increase in the number of care homes rated ‘good’.

·         Care homes that performed well often demonstrated strong leadership and management.

·         There was a high number of care homes in the Bradford district due to the fact that approximately 86% of those providers were small family run businesses.

·         An advantage of having a high number of care providers meant that reliance was not placed upon a small number of large providers.

·         Page 7 of Appendix 1 to Document “V” showed the number of care homes that had de-registered with the CQC within the last 31 days and the reasons for this varied.

·         A care home that had de-registered with the CQC could still be operating as a care home if it had registered under a different name e.g. following a change in ownership.

·         The CQC recognised that a lot of progress had been made with the introduction of the Improvement Boards and forums to help providers get to where they needed to be.

·         The best providers demonstrated they were ‘people centred’ around the individuals they cared for.

·         It was often the case that if a care home performed strongly in ‘well-led’ it would perform well overall.

The Strategic Director of Health and Wellbeing addressed the Committee and stated that the Contracts Compliance Team from her department worked closely with providers to help them improve.  She informed Members that there were two Improvement Boards (one for residential care and the other for nursing care) which the CQC attended and that events were regularly organised to bring providers together in order to share best practice.  She also alluded to peer support from within the sector to highlight that support was offered to providers in a number of different ways.

The Chair requested that a report on the Improvement Boards be submitted to the Committee in the 2019/2020 municipal year. 

A Member commented that the services inspected by the CQC affected the quality of many peoples lives and she was pleased to see that the overall picture was improving and that good practice was being shared.

In response to a Member’s question, the Strategic Director of Health and Wellbeing stated that the shortage of nurses was a national issue and this was reflected in the number of care homes with nursing (72) compared to the number without (150) across the district.  She also stated that whilst Bradford did not compare favourably regionally, there had been a number of positive changes over the past year but she acknowledged there was still a lot of work to do to improve adult social care provision across the district.

Resolved –

(1)       That the Inspection Manager, Adult Social Care, Care Quality Commission be thanked for the report.

(2)       That a report be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee in relation to the Service Improvement Boards.

ACTION: Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing