We will fix adult social care failings, says mayor

A council that failed to keep track of its adult social care system after delegating responsibility to the NHS has been told to make "rapid and widespread improvements".

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) found the services in Salford inadequate after an inspection in November last year.

A decision to transfer services to the local NHS trust had led to a lack of oversight, with people frustrated by poor organisation and delays accessing care, the regulator said.

Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett said the council apologised to residents and families who have had poor experiences of adult social care and promised "we will fix this".

It is the first time the CQC has rated the council's adult social care service under a new inspection system introduced in 2023, where the regulator hands local authorities a formal rating over how they deliver the care.

Inspectors found people faced long waits for assessments like financial checks and occupational therapy, struggled to get the right information, and those who do not speak English faced problems getting help.

Other issues include lack of a formal hospital discharge process, lack of support for carers around financial support, and people having to explain their circumstances several times to different members of staff.

The council had transferred most adult social care services to local NHS trusts in 2016 under what Dennett said was a "complex set of arrangements".

About 450 staff moved at first, but worker numbers had grown to about 2000, a council spokesperson said.

Chris Badger, CQC's chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said the move had led to "great deal of instability".

"As Salford is the 19th most deprived area out of 153 in England, and the third most deprived in Greater Manchester, it's important that leaders have more oversight of the services they are delivering, he said.

"There needs to be more awareness of the needs of the local community, so people receive the support they need, and inequalities are reduced.

"This wasn't happening, which was putting people at risk of harm and giving them a reduced quality of life."

Dennett admitted the model had "not given us the grip and accountability that we need".

Salford Council has since started the process of bringing services back into local authority control after launching an improvement programme in April last year.

Dennett said: "This isn't the level of service and quality of provision I expect as your directly elected mayor.

"Adult social care arrangements in the city have simply not been fit for purpose and my personal commitment to you is that we are going to fix this."

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