Care Quality Commission local authority assessments
The Care Quality Commission will be assessing local authorities and integrated care systems in the coming months. This is part of their duty to assess how local authorities are meeting their statutory and social care duties under the Care Act 2014.
We don’t know yet when this visit will happen at Rotherham Council. Work is taking place across adult social care to prepare for the assessment.
How the Local Authority CQC process works
CQC seeks to provide independent assurance to the public on the quality of care in their area. To do this, they want to know how the care provided in Rotherham improves outcomes for people and reduces inequalities in their care experiences.
Local authorities will be assessed against four themes:
1. Working with people
- Assessing needs.
- Supporting people to lead healthier lives.
- Equity in experience and outcomes.
2. Providing support
- Care provision, integration, and continuity.
- Partnerships and communities.
3. How the local authority ensures safety within the system
- Safe systems, pathways and transitions.
- Safeguarding.
4. Leadership
- Governance, management, and sustainability.
- Learning, improvement, and innovation.
How will the CQC assess us?
The CQC will use five categories for evidence in local authorities:
- People’s experiences of our services - This includes families, carers, and advocates. Evidence will include surveys, interviews, and feedback from user groups.
- Feedback from our staff and leaders - This includes staff surveys, interviews and focus groups with staff, and interviews with leaders.
- Feedback from our partners - This includes feedback from the organisations we work with, such as commissioners, other local providers, and multi-agency bodies.
- Our processes - This will look at the steps we take to deliver safe care and meet people’s needs.
- Our outcomes - This will look at the impact of our care processes on individuals. This might come from patient data sets, audits, and data reporting initiatives.
We will keep this page updated as we find out more from the CQC about the assessment.