The Care Quality Commission (CQC)’s first assessment of adult social care at Newcastle City Council under a new process has found the services require improvement.

The CQC conducted inspections of adult social care services at all England councils last year, reviewing how the local authorities are meeting their duties under the 2014 Care Act.

An inspection report published today details shortfalls across eight of the nine quality areas on which the CQC assesses, with Newcastle receiving an overall score of 53 out of 100.

The “requires improvement” band covers scores from 39 to 62.

Among the issues identified by the inspection team were overdue reviews which meant care plans no longer accurately reflected service users’ needs; inequalities in access to services; and unpaid carers not being aware of carers assessments.

Commenting on the report, CQC chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care Chris Badger said: “People gave us mixed feedback about their assessments and care planning”.

He added: “Some told us they felt listened to and understood, and staff explained options clearly. Others felt they had to push to have their views heard, particularly when trying to avoid options they didn’t feel were right for them, such as going into residential care.”

The inspection did, however, find good standards on working with partners and the community. The report notes successful collaboration with health, housing, the voluntary and community sector, and other statutory agencies, as well as with service users.

Mr Badger expressed confidence that the city’s leaders were “clear about their roles and responsibilities”.

“They understand the areas that need to improve and have already started that work.

“We will continue to monitor progress to see how this work improves people’s experiences of accessing adult social care in Newcastle.”

In response to the report, the unitary stressed that inspectors had also praised a new ‘front door’ to services which has improved access, as well as focus on prevention and independence, safeguarding and leadership.

Director of adult social care and prevention at Newcastle, Laura Choake said the CQC “rightly” praised its staff “for their skills, approachability, and responsiveness”.

“We know there are some areas where improvements can be made and we are working hard on these alongside residents who use these services,” she continued.

“Since CQC visited, we have already improved response times across many areas, made our communication clearer so people know what to expect and when, and importantly we have seen an increase across all satisfaction measures in our latest carer survey.”

She added: “Together with the new political administration, we will focus on the areas for improvement, and work ever more closely with residents to make sure our services continue to provide the best support possible.”

Following the elections this month, the city is now under no overall control with a Liberal Democrat minority administration.

To date, 126 of the 153 CQC reports have been published. The remainder are due to be published by early summer.

LGC analysis of the first wave of inspection reports found that a third of inspected councils had failed to achieve at least a ‘good’ rating.

Some adult social care directors have raised concerns about the inspection process, arguing it is not sufficiently reflective of the sector’s complexity.

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