Swindon Borough Council’s adult social care services have been upgraded to a ‘Good’ rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), following a successful challenge to the regulator’s original assessment.
The revised judgement was published today (6 February) after the Council requested a review of the CQC’s initial report, released last October, which had placed the service just below the ‘Good’ threshold.
As part of the process, the inspection outcome was reassessed, including an independent review carried out by a senior CQC member of staff who had not been involved in the original inspection. Following that review, the Council was rated ‘Good’ across the majority of the nine quality statements used by the CQC to reach its overall judgement.
One of the key changes came in the area of governance and leadership, which was upgraded during the review. As a result, the Council achieved ‘Good’ ratings in five of the nine categories.
The CQC first visited Swindon Borough Council in March last year to assess the adult social care services provided to local residents. It marked the authority’s first inspection under the regulator’s new assessment framework.
Councillor Ray Ballman, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, said the revised rating reflected the commitment of staff working across the service.
“This regrading of our adult social care provision is testament to the collective resilience, leadership and dedication of our staff, who work so hard to support some of the most vulnerable people in Swindon,” he said.
“I’d like to thank them for everything they do for our residents, often going the extra mile to make a real difference to people’s lives.”
The Council’s adult social care services support people who are older, living with disabilities, or managing physical or mental health conditions, helping them to remain independent and maintain their wellbeing.
Council Leader Jim Robbins also welcomed the news, saying he was proud of the work being delivered across the service. He recently visited The Ridings in Rodbourne Cheney, a sheltered housing scheme that includes a 30-place day centre run by First City Nursing Services on behalf of the Council.
The centre provides care and social activities for older adults, including bingo, gardening and organised outings.
“This is brilliant news for all our colleagues in adult social care and for the Council as a whole,” Cllr Robbins said.
“We were extremely disappointed to narrowly miss out on a ‘Good’ grading originally, which is why we asked for the review. I’d like to thank the CQC for allowing us to challenge the decision and for carrying out a robust and independent reassessment.
“Adult social care provides support that many of us hope we will never need, but having seen first-hand the warmth and dedication shown by colleagues to those who do, it fills me with great pride.”
