Unpaid carers suffering over lack of support - CQC

Unpaid carers have said their health has suffered after not receiving enough support from a council, a care review stated.

Norfolk County Council's adult social care service was rated as requires improvement by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following an inspection earlier this year.

The CQC report said the department was sometimes slow to respond to safeguarding concerns and there were delays in support for people using the service.

Alison Thomas, the Conservative councillor responsible for adult social care at the authority, said she was "disappointed" with the rating and that the report relied on "anecdotal evidence".

She added she had "every confidence" work to improve the department would "achieve good outcomes" for people.

Chris Badger, the CQC's chief inspector of adult social care, said his team found "a mixed picture" when they visited Norfolk earlier this year.

He said inspectors had concerns about the treatment of unpaid carers after some said that "delays in support for the person they cared for worsened their own health and wellbeing".

Mr Badger added unpaid carers felt "assessments often felt tokenistic and ineffective".

When searching for care provision, particularly for nursing care or supported living, people "didn't always have sufficient choice", said Mr Badger.

This caused some people to remain living in placements that were not appropriate for their needs.

The report also found some social care providers had to wait "too long for feedback after raising safeguarding concerns".

Yet the report added the council had since introduced a new system to share and receive information.

The CQC said the council had "worked intensively to improve adult social care quality" and that an artificial intelligence tool that was designed to prevent falls had been well-received.

The CQC also said feedback about the department's new director was "consistently positive" and there had been "extensive work" to address challenges such as waiting lists.

"While we found some pockets of good practice, the local authority needs to do more work to ensure people have consistently positive experiences," said Mr Badger.

"Leaders understand what needs to change and have started building the right foundations," he added.

In response, Thomas said she was "surprised and very disappointed at the requires improvement rating, especially as the data and written narrative throughout the report is very positive".

"There appears to be an over-reliance on anecdotal evidence but no real explanation as to what this is or why it should have such a bearing on the overall rating," she added.

Steve Morphew, a Labour councillor and the party's group leader at the authority, said Thomas' comments were "a classic example of not listening".

"The anecdotal evidence tells you about the problems that people are dealing with," he added.

Brian Watkins, the Liberal Democrat group leader at the authority, said whilst "the new leadership team is already making a difference" it was "particularly concerning that the CQC has highlighted safeguarding as an area for improvement".

"It is a stark reminder that despite the work that has been done, we can never be complacent when the lives of children and vulnerable adults continue to be put at risk," he added.

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