Gloucestershire Council Refutes Social Care Criticism

Gloucestershire CC has refuted a Commission for Social Care Inspection report that raised “serious concerns” about its adult safeguarding work.

It said that while an action plan had been drawn to address specific recommendations, it was unfairly critical of the county’s ability to safeguard vulnerable adults.

In November, the council reacted angrily to the Commission for Social Care Inspection’s (CSCI) downgrading of its overall adult social care rating to ‘adequate’ from ‘good’ in 2006-7.

After CSCI published its review of safeguarding in the county, the council insisted vulnerable residents were safe.

Margaret Sheather, group director for community and adult care, said CSCI had drawn wide-ranging conclusions from limited examples.

Inaccurate

“We want to learn from inspections but we consider this report to be inaccurate and its judgements largely unhelpful,” she said.

“Many of the criticisms are not backed up by sufficient evidence, and many of the recommendations made are already being acted upon – something that CSCI fails to acknowledge.”

She added that inspectors had concluded that reporting procedures for abuse were too complicated because insufficient complaints of abuse had been received but failed to acknowledge that the authority had protected more than 600 vulnerable adults following concerns being raised.

Rigorous

Imelda Richardson, CSCI’s regional director for the south west, said the judgement was based on a “rigorous and detailed evidential process”.

She confirmed that “high use of poor, unsafe care homes” and the operation of safeguarding services was behind November’s downgrading of the authority’s adult social care services.

“The council needs now as a matter of urgency to channel its energies into improving the services it provides for the benefit of the people who rely on them,” she said.

She added that while commission representatives had attended a Gloucestershire scrutiny committee meeting to further explain the report, councillors had been “discourteous” and had denied CSCI the chance to speak.

See the report http://www.lgcplus.com/images/20090108_gloucestershire_iwcfinal_without_underlining__rs_tcm16-1984250.pdf