The Care Quality Commission (CQC), has rated the London Borough of Waltham Forest as good, in how well they are meeting their responsibilities to ensure people have access to adult social care and support under the Care Act (2014).
CQC has a new duty under the Act to assess how local authorities work with their communities and partners to meet their responsibilities. This includes promoting the wellbeing and independence of working age disabled adults, older people, and their unpaid carers to reduce their need for formal support where appropriate. Where support is needed it should provide people with choice and control of how their care needs are met.
CQC looked at nine areas spread across four themes to assess how well the authority is meeting their responsibilities in order to create their good rating. CQC has given each of these nine areas a score out of four with one being the evidence shows significant shortfalls, and four showing an exceptional standard.
1. assessing people’s needs: 2
2. supporting people to lead healthier lives: 3
3. equity in experience and outcomes: 3
4. care provision, integration and continuity of care: 2
5. partnership and communities: 3
6. safe pathways, systems and transitions: 2
7. safeguarding: 2
8. governance, management and sustainability: 3
9. learning, improvement and innovation: 3
Chris Badger, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said:
“At this assessment, we found that people in Waltham Forest often had positive experiences when receiving adult social care. Many told us they felt respected and involved in decisions about their support. There were examples where staff took time to understand what mattered most to individuals and shaped care around that. Such as supporting someone to stay independent rather than rely on formal services, or tailoring dementia activities around a person’s culture and language.
“Waltham Forest Council has made early help and prevention a clear priority, investing in services that support people to stay well to try and avoid the need for long-term care. People who used the early help service told us they felt more hopeful and confident and were less likely to need a package of care or further support from the local authority for at least six months.
“The local authority had a strong commitment to reducing inequalities. Staff worked in ways that recognised people’s cultural backgrounds, including their languages and beliefs. However, some partners told us some isolated individuals and seldom-heard communities continued to face barriers in accessing help. While the local authority had launched several initiatives to address this, many had not yet shown a measurable impact on outcomes.
“We also heard that some people faced delays in accessing support, particularly unpaid carers and those waiting for occupational therapy. The system could be difficult to navigate, and not everyone knew what they were entitled to. While Waltham Forest Council had taken steps to improve access and reduce waiting times, people still had inconsistent experiences and evidence of impact from the changes was at an early stage.
“Overall, Waltham Forest should be really pleased with the many positive findings in our report and their good rating. They’ve already told us how they’re planning to build on this further with improvement plans and we look forward to returning to see how their plans mature.”
The assessment team found:
- The local authority built strong partnerships with voluntary and community groups to help people stay connected and access support beyond formal care.
- Staff used performance and demographic data to identify gaps in provision and adjust services to meet local needs more effectively.
- Waltham Forest Council promoted the uptake of direct payments, to enable people's control over how their care and support needs were met. There was a higher uptake for people from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
- The local authority kept people with Care Act needs safe as they moved between services and transitions were generally well managed.
- The local authority listened to feedback from people and demonstrated their commitment to improvement.
However, the assessment team also found:
- Waltham Forest Council didn't always apply strengths-based approaches effectively across adult social care teams, meaning staff didn’t consistently focus on what mattered most to the person. At the time of the assessment, only a quarter of teams had completed relevant strength-based practice training.
- The local authority didn't always monitor people placed out of area consistently, which meant some didn’t receive timely support when their needs or circumstances changed.