Inspection of Adult Social Care Services in Wiltshire

The Care Quality Commission inspection report on Adult Social Care Services in Wiltshire has now been published and I am pleased to report that Wiltshire Council has been given a Good rating.

The inspectors from the regulatory body the Care Quality Commission (CQC) first announced in April 2024 the review of adult social care services in Wiltshire.

As part of a comprehensive process, inspectors spoke to people receiving care, unpaid carers, providers and other care professionals as well as checking council policies and processes and interviewing staff before making a final judgement.

Inspectors summed up their findings in the report by saying: "People told us staff went above and beyond when working alongside people with care and support and their carers in Wiltshire." 

Some key points from the resulting report included: 

• focus on providing the right care in the right place and developing a skilled workforce
• people had access to approaches and options to prevent, reduce and delay their need for care and support
• feedback was positive on reablement the in-house, therapy-led reablement team which works with people to gain their independence and remain at home - on average people received four weeks of reablement and 69% were fully independent leaving the service
• the enablement service which works with people with learning disabilities and/or autism or have additional health needs - evidence shows it helped people develop goals including independence, maintaining tenancies and accessing universal services
• the council was active on feedback and complaints to improve experiences for people - ie improve accessibility of contacting staff and reducing waiting times
• young people and their carers told inspectors their experience of transitions from children to adult services was improving
• good leadership at Wiltshire Council and an "always improving" ethos
• feedback from unpaid carers was mostly positive - they felt support and aware of opportunity to be involved in co-production projects
• promoting people's independence was part of everyday practice

Thank you to everyone who participated in the inspection or gave views. 

As a council we are about actions not words and through adapting, improving and learning we are striving to be better.  We want people to have the right care at the right place and at the right time - and have independence as much as possible to live their lives their way.

I am very proud of all our staff have achieved which is reflected in this independent report. "Going above and beyond" and an "always improving" ethos is nothing new to us - it is the way we work every day. We still have learning to do but we are ready to take on any challenges and I know we will continue to help people live the lives they want to lead into the future.

The assessment is published on the CQC website CQC: Local authority assessment reports (opens new window).