The purpose of the Local Account is to provide information on where Cambridgeshire County Council Adult Social Care is doing things well, where we think we can improve and how we are planning for the opportunities and challenges ahead.
The Local Account reflects on our achievements during 2021-23. It includes feedback that we have received through surveys carried out by the council and updates on priorities co-produced with our Adult Social Care Partnership Boards and other experts by experience groups/networks.
Activity Overview for 2021-22 and 2022-23
Below is an overview of the number of people we have worked with in 2022-2023 and how different it was from the previous year.
- 22602 – The number of contacts from people who needed some support or information and advice. There were slightly fewer requests the year before, 21450.
- 2344 – The number of people who received a technology enabled care assessment. There were more people the previous year, 3187.
- 4026 – The number of people to whom we provided a short period of support to recover from illness or a stay in hospital. There were slightly fewer people the year before, 3960.
- 7891 – The number of people to whom we provided some longer-term care and support. There were slightly fewer people the year before, 7760.
How we spent our budget in 2021-22
Where we spent the money in 2021-22
- £142.1 million on care and support purchased
- £13.9 million on social care staff
- £13.3 million on directly provided support
- £29.5 million on other things
Who we supported in 2021-22
- 4,681 older people
- 1,819 people with learning disabilities
- 1,099 people with physical disabilities
- 757 people who needed mental health support
How we spent our budget in 2022-23
Where we spent the money in 2022-23
- £160.1 million for care and support purchased
- £15.7 million for social care staff
- £15.3 million for directly provided support
- £20.2 million for other things
Who we supported in 2022-23
- 5,162 older people
- 1,891 people with learning disabilities
- 796 people who needed mental health support
- 675 people with physical disabilities
Top three achievements and challenges for 2021-2023
As a core part of the Sector Led Improvement programme in the Eastern Region led by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), councils are asked to complete a self-assessment. The self-assessment covers a wide range of themes. Cambridgeshire County Council submitted a self-assessment on 31 March 2022 which covered the previous 12 months. Subsequently the council met with a former Director of Adult Social Services for an external challenge session in July 2022 and took part in a regional challenge event in September 2022.
To enhance the council’s assurance process and to begin preparations for the introduction of external assurance by the Care Quality Commission, the council also invited the Local Government Association (LGA) to undertake a peer review building upon the self-assessment. The LGA peer review team gathered a substantial amount of evidence and spent a day auditing cases prior to three days field work during September 2022.
Top three achievements
Our self-assessment highlighted the following three areas as our key achievements for 2021-22:
Joint working with Public Health
During 2020-22 joint working with Public Health has delivered significant results. In particular, work with care providers around infection control and around Covid de-escalation, including supporting day services with ventilation surveys.
Partnership working with the health sector
Partnership working and good engagement with Primary Care Networks, especially in our Care Together pilot area. Strengths-based training has been provided to social prescribers and we have been jointly developing best practice in co-production with our user forums and the primary care personalised care network and wider health system. This collaboration has extended to digital solutions where the council is a key partner in the implementation of the Shared Care Record and are also actively involved in the project to roll out Joy, a social prescribing referral management system and public-facing directory across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Strong safeguarding structures
We have a strong and well-established Safeguarding Adults Board and an effective Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) with no backlogs or delays. Learning around Safeguarding Adult Reviews is effectively shared by wider Safeguarding Adults Board partners.
Top three challenges
The self-assessment identified the following three areas as our biggest challenges:
Adult Social Care workforce
The most critical risk is the pressure around workforce capacity, recruitment and retention across the local authority and care providers.
Lack of clarity over social care reforms
Our capacity to deliver future social care reform in respect of workforce and digital preparedness is of concern and is exacerbated by the lack of clarity on funding and delays to guidance. The movement of the Liberty Protection Safeguards implementation timelines to potentially overlap with operational change in relation to the cap on care costs will also add to resourcing pressures.
Cost of Care
The volume and number of self-funders approaching the council to commission care on their behalf and the impact on a fragile market recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is significant. The fair cost of care and a single rate for providers will potentially see providers leaving the local market if no longer financially viable.
