New report praises quality of adult social care in Leeds

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has today published its assessment of the authority’s adult social care provision, rating the service as “good” and highlighting an array of strengths in its work to support people to live as well and as independently as possible.

The report particularly praises the “skilled, knowledgeable and committed staff” who work in a way which promotes individuals’ strengths and show understanding of the city’s culturally-diverse communities and potential barriers to support.

It recognised that effective systems, process and practices are in place to safeguard people in Leeds against abuse and neglect and also highlighted many positive examples of partnership working across the city to ensure people received the right care, at the right time in a variety of settings.

The assessment was the first for Leeds City Council as part of the CQC’s new powers under the Health and Care Act 2022 to monitor how local authorities provide care and work with communities and partners to meet their responsibilities under the Care Act (2014).

Councillor Salma Arif, Leeds City Council’s executive member for adult social care, active lifestyles and culture, said: “This was a rigorous assessment of how we as a council and our partners all work together to deliver high-quality and effective adult social care in Leeds.

“We’re pleased the assessment team recognised our dedicated and passionate workforce and the collective work across the city to ensure adults are safe, supported to live well and flourish.

“We want Leeds to continue to be a great place to grow older in and the findings in this report provide confidence and reassurance of the many areas of good practice taking place across communities.

“However we are not complacent and know there is more still to be done, particularly around increasing uptake of ‘direct payments,’ improving consistency of support for unpaid carers and further reducing the waiting lists for assessment and reviews. Work is already underway to address all the areas highlighted for improvement and further build on our successes so far."

The assessment can be viewed on the CQC’s website at: https://www.cqc.org.uk/care-services/local-authority-assessment-reports/leeds-1025

The CQC’s press release will be available to view at: https://www.cqc.org.uk/news

ENDS

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