Adult social care provision provided by KCC rated as 'requires improvement'
A report published by the Care Quality Commission has also found health inequalities between people living inland compared to coastal areas
The Care Quality Commission (CQC), has rated Kent County Council as requires improvement, 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 requires improvement 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.
James Bullion, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said:
“Our assessment of Kent County Council revealed the challenges of delivering adult social care across one of England’s largest and most diverse counties. With 514 care homes providing nearly 12,000 beds for older people and specialised accommodation. Despite these challenges the authority has a responsibility to improve the quality of care that people are receiving now including how people are being safeguarded, how they support carers and how they are supporting young people transitioning into adult services.
“There are about 13,000 people living with dementia in the county, and 25% of residents report some form of disability or a long-term health condition. Leaders were also aware of the pressing need on them to plan for the future. By 2036, there'll be more than 30,000 people aged 85 and over in Kent – nearly double than in 2018. Kent needs to start planning for these issues now, so they have the right support ready in place for people when the time comes.
“We spoke with enthusiastic and committed staff but also found stark contrasts between different areas of Kent, particularly between inland and coastal communities where health inequalities persist despite the authority’s efforts to address them. While Kent’s health outcomes are often better than the national average, this isn’t true for coastal areas where communities face worse health outcomes, poorer quality housing, and seasonal employment. The six-to-eight-year gap in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas of Kent illustrates these inequalities.
“However, they were doing some good work to reduce these inequalities. When occupational therapists noticed they were mainly helping white residents in coastal areas, they used data to connect with other community groups such as residents originally from Nepal.
“Kent was also working collaboratively by involving people using services to help shape them. We were told by people they didn’t feel their attendance was tokenistic, that they led the meetings and felt like their voice was making a difference to how services are designed.
“The authority has also developed innovative digital tools like an online financial calculator which helps residents estimate personal contributions to care. One person told us that for the first time they felt they could understand what they might need to pay before having difficult conversations with their family about care options.
“Kent County Council has built strong foundations for future partnership working which will be essential to support their changing demographic. It’s clear that Kent has a commitment to reducing inequalities and learning about improvement, but our assessment found some important areas for improving outcomes. We look forward to seeing how they’ve implemented that learning and how their plans have matured.”
Richard Smith, Kent County Council Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health said:
“Kent County Council’s journey from current challenges to a future where every adult in Kent lives a full and safe life is one of transformation, collaboration, and resilience. Since the publication of our adult social care strategy “Making a Difference Every Day” in 2022 we have been on a journey of service improvement to ensure our strategic objectives to ‘put the person first’, ‘improve all the time’ and ‘measure what matters’ are embedded into everyday practice.
“We are pleased that the findings of the CQC assessment align to that of our own self-assessment and that the work already undertaken to improve outcomes for people who draw on our services was acknowledged. We are confident that our ongoing improvement activity will have a positive impact for the residents we support, our workforce and our partners.
“We received a ‘Good’ rating in two areas and through our ongoing work we will ensure we are working towards being the best we can be. Although the overall rating isn’t what we would hope for, I am confident that we are aware of where improvements are needed, and work has already started.
“Kent, like all other local authorities, is under pressure due to an increasing demand for services and support, lack of funding to meet this demand and workforce shortages and across the adult social care sector. However, we remain committed to providing the best services and support possible to ensure the right outcomes for everyone."