Strong leadership and regular reviews help ensure people receive safe, effective and person-centred support.
During 2025/26, we continued to strengthen our approach to quality, learning and improvement across Adult Social Care. Through quality assurance activity, professional leadership and ongoing practice development, we have improved our understanding of what is working well and where further improvements are needed.
Throughout the year, we strengthened professional leadership across Adult Social Care. Social workers and occupational therapists worked alongside health services, housing providers, voluntary organisations and local communities to help people remain independent, achieve their goals and live well.
We also invested in professional development, quality assurance and practice improvement to ensure staff have the skills, support and guidance needed to provide consistent, high-quality care and support.
Learning from audits, feedback and professional oversight has helped identify both areas of good practice and opportunities for improvement. This learning is shaping future priorities and helping us continue to improve services and outcomes for local people.
The Principal Social Worker provides professional leadership for social work practice across Adult Social Care. The role helps ensure people receive safe, effective and person-centred support by promoting high professional standards, supporting workforce development and championing good social work practice.
The Principal Social Worker plays an important role in helping staff learn and develop, promoting continuous improvement and ensuring people's strengths, wishes and goals remain at the heart of decision-making.
During 2025/26, Torbay Council strengthened its commitment to high-quality social work through the re-establishment of the Principal Social Worker role.
Key areas of focus included:
During 2026/27, the Principal Social Worker will continue to support professional development, strengthen practice standards and promote a culture of learning and continuous improvement across Adult Social Care.
Working alongside the Principal Occupational Therapist and colleagues across the organisation, the focus will remain on ensuring people receive high-quality support that promotes independence, wellbeing and positive outcomes.
The Principal Occupational Therapist provides professional leadership for occupational therapy practice across Adult Social Care. The role helps ensure people receive high-quality, person-centred support by promoting good practice, supporting workforce development and strengthening professional standards.
Occupational Therapists play a key role in helping people remain independent, safe and well in their own homes and communities. They work alongside people, families and partner organisations to identify practical solutions that help individuals carry out everyday activities, maintain their wellbeing and achieve the outcomes that matter most to them.
During 2025/26, the Occupational Therapy service continued to support the development of the future workforce through student placements and rotational opportunities for newly qualified Occupational Therapists.
Key areas of focus included:
During 2026/27, the Principal Occupational Therapist will continue to strengthen professional practice, support workforce development and promote high-quality occupational therapy services across Adult Social Care.
Working alongside the Principal Social Worker, a key focus will be the development of new Practice Standards, a Practice Framework and career development pathways to support staff progression and help ensure people receive consistent, person-centred support that promotes independence and wellbeing.
Maintaining high professional standards is essential to ensuring people receive safe, effective and person-centred support.
During 2025/26, we continued to strengthen how we review, support and improve practice across Adult Social Care. This included reviewing policies, procedures and guidance, strengthening quality assurance arrangements and identifying opportunities to improve services and outcomes for local people.
We are also developing new Practice Standards and a Practice Framework to provide staff with clear guidance, support learning and development, and promote consistent, high-quality practice across Adult Social Care.
While there are many areas of good practice, we recognise the need to continue learning and improving. As people's needs become more complex and services continue to evolve, our focus remains on supporting staff, strengthening practice and ensuring people remain at the centre of everything we do.
We want everyone who uses Adult Social Care services to receive safe, high-quality support that is tailored to their individual needs and goals. Strong professional leadership, regular reviews of practice and ongoing staff development help us ensure services are consistent, effective and focused on what matters most to the people who use them.
By learning from feedback, reviewing how we work and supporting our workforce to continually develop their skills, we can identify opportunities for improvement and make positive changes. This helps ensure people receive the right support at the right time, while protecting their rights, promoting independence and improving outcomes.