Roadmap agreed to strengthen Adult Social Care, shaped by carers and residents

West Northamptonshire Council has agreed a clear roadmap to strengthen Adult Social Care, with carers and residents at the centre of how services will improve. This follows the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) first assessment of how the Council meets its responsibilities under the Care Act.

The roadmap was approved by Cabinet this week after the CQC assessment, published in January, rated Adult Social Care in West Northamptonshire as “Requires Improvement”. The assessment provides an independent baseline for improvement and highlights both what is working well and where further progress is needed.

Inspectors recognised a number of strengths, including person‑centred practice, strong safeguarding arrangements and effective partnership working. They also identified areas to improve, such as waiting times, access to services, the quality of data and ensuring stable leadership.

Since the publication of the report, the Council has worked closely with people who draw on care and support, unpaid carers, experts by experience, staff, partners and the voluntary and community sector to shape a co‑produced improvement plan. Cabinet has now agreed the next steps which connect closely with other priorities, including Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and improving Preparation for Adulthood pathways.

Feedback from carers and residents has directly shaped the priorities in the plan. This includes improving the timeliness of support for carers, particularly access to respite care, and reducing waiting times for reviews, occupational therapy assessments and equipment.  

Actions are also set out to address inequality in access and experience. The plan aims to improve how clear and accessible information is, strengthen engagement with community groups and support experts by experience to help train staff on co‑production and why it matters.

To strengthen co‑production further, the Council has committed to sharing draft priority plans with the Co‑production Board so feedback can shape decisions before they are finalised.

The roadmap focuses on six priority areas: workforce development; communication and access to information, leadership, data and performance management, partnership working, and equality, diversity and inclusion. Work is already underway, including a new supervision policy, strengthened safeguarding triage, updated practice audits and a focused review of Learning Disability and Autism services. 

“This roadmap has been produced by listening carefully to carers and residents and acting on what they have told us. While the CQC recognised existing strong foundations, we know where we need to improve and we are committed to doing so.

“By continuing to co‑produce our improvement work with experts by experience and partners, we are strengthening Adult Social Care in a way that is open, fair and focused on people’s real-life situations and experiences.”Councillor Laura Couse, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health

The Cabinet‑approved Care Quality Commission Outcome and Improvement Plan will now be shared with the Department of Health and Social Care. Progress will be monitored through established governance arrangements and updates will be shared as improvements are delivered.