Adult social care services improving
Released: 29 November 2007
Social care services for adults in Wolverhampton are continuing to improve, according to inspectors.
Wolverhampton City Council's Adult Social Care staff are providing a good service, says the Commission for Social Care Inspection which has today awarded the council a two-star rating.
It means the department has retained the rating it received last year. The inspectors found that the department has promising prospects for improvement.
"We are delighted with the inspectors' findings," said Councillor Geoff Foster, Cabinet Member for Adults. "They found that more than four fifths of our adult performance indicators were better than the previous year and this is a fantastic achievement.
"It reflects the hard work being put in by staff across adult social care who all have the same aim - to improve the quality of life of the people that the council works with."
Inspectors said the department's key achievements in 2006-07 included:
Improvements in 17 (or 81%) of the 21 performance assessment indicators measured by the Government compared to the previous year.
Good provision of information to the public, with high levels of engagement with residents in shaping the future delivery of services in Wolverhampton.
Good availability of extra-care housing for older people, with plans to deliver more.
The council is providing a good service to carers, with a wide range of short-breaks services now in operation.
The number of older people and younger adults in residential care is decreasing, suggesting preventative services are working.
The council is acting positively to ensure that its workforce reflects the city’s population at all levels.
The inspectors praised joint working between the council, the city’s health providers and the voluntary sector, and the council’s innovative approach to improving services through a combination public and private funding, such as the multi-million pound scheme to build new six health and social care centres across the city using PFI credits.
The inspectors added: “The council makes a good contribution to improving people’s health and sense of wellbeing with a good range of clear information to help people find the services they need.”
Viv Griffin, Acting Director for Adults and Community, said: "This improvement reflects our commitment to provide better services for the people of Wolverhampton every year.
“But we will not rest on our laurels - our staff will continue to strive to further improve our services so they are among the best in the country. The people of Wolverhampton deserve nothing less."
The Commission for Social Care Inspection publishes star ratings annually following inspections of adult social care departments across the country.
Issued by the press office.