Issue - meetings

To submit the inspection’s findings and the Council’s response to the Committee

To accept the reports and ask for progress reports.

A report was presented by the Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Well-being, highlighting the full attendance of the Adults Department management team at today's meeting. They were thanked for their time, stating that their attendance demonstrated the Department's strength and commitment to its responsibilities. It was explained that a joint inspection of the services in the Adults Department was conducted by Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) and the Wales Audit Office (WAO) in October 2024. It was therefore thought appropriate to submit both reports to the Care Scrutiny Committee within the same item.

It was added that during the same period, an inspection of the Department's work commissioned by the Department through the WLGA had been carried out and also the work on the Llechen Lân scheme. It was stated that there was an intention to bring the findings of all the inspections together and create a single detailed action plan for the Department. It was explained that this plan would in time be submitted to the Care Scrutiny Committee in order to receive its input, which was always appreciated by the Department.

CIW and WAO officers were thanked for their continued collaboration with the Adults Department and appreciation was expressed for their input. It was highlighted that a very high percentage of the issues identified were issues that were nationally challenging or were issues that had already been identified and the Department was trying to find solutions for them.

A representative of Care Inspectorate Wales presented the report, detailing the findings. Senior Officers of the Department were thanked for their preparatory work ahead of October and for the work and support during the inspection. The letter included in the Agenda (page 16) was highlighted and it was explained that this letter was the outcome of the visit.

Some matters included in the letter were highlighted such as the praise for the progress that had been made in the area of domiciliary care although there were further improvements to be made. It was thought that the waiting time for assessments needed to be reconciled as there were delays with some assessments for domiciliary care. The strengths and evident improvements in the area of adult safeguarding and assessment of people's mental capacity were also acknowledged.

It was accepted that challenges existed in trying to work in partnership with the Health Board while recognising that efforts were being made, and the importance of continuing those efforts was emphasised. Some areas for improvement were highlighted such as the challenges in recording data on assessments and support for unpaid carers, indicating that there was room to make the data more reliable.

A representative of  ⁠Audit Wales presented an overview of the Audit Wales Report as included in the Agenda (page 37). It was clarified that the inspection work carried out by WAO focused on matters relating to the provision and commissioning of internal and external domiciliary care. They expressed gratitude for the welcome during the visit and for the collaboration.

The Llechen Lân report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6