Derbyshire council’s adult social care services have been rated as ‘good’ by watchdogs – despite the authority considering plans to implement saving proposals including the closure of up to 11 care homes, the introduction of grant funding cuts and redesigning services for those with learning disabilities.

The Care Quality Commission recently reported that the adult social care services run by the county council showed a ‘good’ standard of care and support with many people experiencing good, joined-up care.

Derbyshire County Council’s cabinet member for adult care Cllr Natalie Hoy said: “We’re very pleased the assessment team has recognised the good work being done in Derbyshire to help and support our most vulnerable residents.

“It’s testament to the hard work put in by those who work for us as well as our partners that we’ve been able to achieve this standard and I’d like to thank them all for their dedication and commitment.

“We’re proud of the work we’re doing to help residents to live their best life, with help and support from us when and where it’s needed and the report reflects the improvements we’ve made. For example, in our short-term ‘reablement’ service to ensure we can help as many people as possible remain at home for as long as they can.

“It also recognises the work we’re doing on direct payments, which gives people more choice and control over their lives.”

The CQC report highlighted areas where the council worked well including hospital discharges, and preventing and reducing and delaying people from going into longer term care, as well as using direct payments to help people access support to help them live the lives they wanted.

It also revealed more people in Derbyshire felt in control of their lives than the national average with a figure of 80per cent for the county compared to 77per cent nationally along with a higher number of Derbyshire residents recorded as being satisfied with their care and support than the national average.

The CQC report also highlighted that staff were passionate about their work and that they found creative ways to support people.

However, the council has previously conceded that one of its greatest challenges continues to be adult care with the increasing demand for services that it feels requires Government intervention.

A council report recently stated there has been an increasing demand with hospital discharges and because there is an insufficient supply of home care and ‘reablement’ services this has driven increased short-term placements into residential homes while people await the availability of home care and consequently expenditure on independent sector placements has increased.

The council has been addressing a number of overall saving proposals to meet an estimated budget deficit of over £39m for the 2024/25 financial year which it has blamed on reduced Government funding, the financial impact from the Covid-19 pandemic, high inflation rates, rising costs, the cost of living crisis, and a growing demand on services.

Derbyshire County Council is subsequently considering closing up to 11 elderly care homes and eight elderly day centres with a proposed refocus on creating specialist dementia residential care centres with night and respite opportunities to support carers.

Cllr Hoy has argued that people want to remain independent, choosing to stay in their own homes for as long as possible, which has led to a decline in the demand for traditional residential care and with more people with dementia she has said that the council needs to refocus its resources.

A further council proposal council could see the end of Adult Social Care Discretionary Grant Funding by March, 2025, for voluntary and community groups.

The council is also considering plans that could result in some support services and centres for adults with learning disabilities being discontinued and closed as it looks at redesigning how it provides Day Opportunity centres and Short Break residential units for adults with learning disabilities and or autism.

Despite the possible saving plans, the CQC stated it rated the council as ‘good’ due to how well it is meeting its responsibilities to ensure people have access to adult social care and support.

CQC looked at nine areas spread across four themes including: How the local authority works with people; Provides support; How the authority ensures safety in the system; And Leadership.

James Bullion, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said: “At this assessment of Derbyshire County Council, we found staff who were passionate about serving local people. They were being supported by leaders who had implemented very efficient systems and processes and assessments.”

The CQC also stated people with care and support needs could access services and waiting times which were generally low when it came to initial assessments and care planning.

Mr Bullion added: “The authority worked well with partners, especially when assessing people waiting to be discharged from hospital. We found people didn’t have to wait long for an assessment because the system was well organised and resourced.”

He also said: “However the authority recognises it still has some work to do to better understand the needs of their population more fully, including from seldom-heard groups. They also know there is more work to do to ensure that people living in the rural pockets of Derbyshire were able to access services as easily as those were lived in the more urban areas.

“Overall, Derbyshire County Council should be really pleased with this assessment. They’ve built a great foundation on which to progress their current transformation plans and make further changes. We look forward to returning to see how they’ve done this and how their current plans mature.”

Other areas highlighted by the CQC inspectors for development included working with people with ‘lived experience’ to help shape services and letting people know the outcome of safeguarding referrals.

The assessment also found that people in more rural places were less likely to get the full range of community services and that homecare services could be a challenge to organise.

It also noted a backlog in financial assessments which impacted payments to services, and that recruitment and retention of skilled workers posed a challenge with a reliance on agency workers.

Mental health hospital discharges could also be complicated by a shortage of supported housing services for homeless people, according to the CQC assessment.

Cllr Hoy said: “While we’re pleased with the overall rating by the CQC, we continue to drive improvements so we can be as effective as possible, helping improve outcomes for people and supporting residents to lead the lives they want to lead.

“Our own assessment was very much in line with the findings of the CQC team and plans are already in place to improve the work we do with communities to make sure they have a say in designing services for the future. We’ve also improved the way we communicate following safeguarding referrals.

“We will continue to work hard to embed the improvements we’ve already made and data for 2024 shows the work we’re doing is already having a significant impact.”