Find out more about the quality and performance of the Adult Social Care - part of the Local Account Summary.
Our adult social care performance reporting (Appendix 1 to 3) is well-established and now includes more detail such as how long people are waiting to be allocated a social care worker. Our reporting on overdue reviews has also been developed, particularly for people who are placed out of area. This supports the identification of risk and the triaging of timely allocation. There continues to be a robust pathway for people who are moving from children’s services to adult social care This is known as 'transitions planning' starting as early as 14 years of age. There are embedded and strong working relationships between children’s and adult social care teams to make the transition as seamless as possible.
In 2021 we changed the way requests for support are recorded on our systems. This led to a 10% increase in demand in 2021. Although we continue to identify appropriate alternatives to social care provision with people approaching us for support, the demand on service provision continues to increase and resulted in a further1.4% increase during 2023/24.
The number of people who did not go on to require a service increased in 2023/24 by 11.5%, from 1,915 the previous year, to 2,136. This is likely to be connected to improved signposting to other appropriate services, support, and help, which increased by 6.8% in 2023/24, from 1,694 the previous year to 1,810. This is a similar proportion to that seen over recent years. We also continue to improve how we record details about ethnicity, diversity, and inclusion.
The number of people who receive direct payments has increased by 19% (73) in 2023/24 on the previous year, from 392 in 2022/23 to 465. This figure had been reducing since 2021/22 from -12% to -7% in 2022/23. The use of direct payments has increased since the pandemic among people who use our services and carers, which has grown from 27% on the previous year, from 585 in 2022/23 to 741. This is also likely to have been impacted by the higher number of carers who were assessed and reviewed in 2023/24, which increased by 29% (355), from 1,226 in 2022/23 to 1,581.
An area where we have not performed as well as we would like is in permanent admissions to residential and nursing care homes. As reported in the 2021-22 Local Account Summary, a large increase in this number on the previous year was predominantly due to system and reporting changes.
The rate of admissions for people aged 18-64 and those aged 65 and older has remained high compared to the national and regional data. This remains a concern and work to reverse this position will be a key component of the transformation programme planned for 2024/26.
Every year adult social care services across the country conduct a user satisfaction survey. The adult social care survey asks people who are over 18 and who use adult social care about their experiences. The questions are set by central government and help us understand how services are helping people to live safely and independently in their own homes. What the results tell us is what is working well, it also helps to inform our future priorities and identify any areas for improvement.
This year 516 people shared their thoughts with us, an increase of 363 from last year.
An increase in the proportion of who use services who feel safe was seen in 2023/24 (71.2%) compared with the previous year (68.5%).
However, a decrease was recorded in the proportion of people who use services who say that those services have made them feel safe and secure in 2023/24 (86.1%) compared with the previous year (89%).
There was a slight reduction in the overall satisfaction of people who use services with their care and support and with the ease by which people can find information about services. These issues will be addressed as part of 23/24’s transformation work.