I very often have the opportunity to celebrate achievements with colleagues and also spend time working with colleagues to understand the challenges they are facing and how I can support and enable these challenges to be overcome. To illustrate the importance of this, I wanted to mention 2 significant areas from the last 12 months which are worthy of note.
In April we were one of the 7 councils to undergo the first ever inspection for Adult Social Care – I was delighted that the service received a ‘good’ rating. This achievement is testament to colleagues across the service and their care, professionalism and focus on ensuring that our residents receive the best possible care which enables them to live their lives the way they want to. The Care Quality Commission’s chief inspector said:
“… we found staff who were passionate about serving local people. They were being supported by leaders who had implemented very efficient systems and processes and assessments and support waiting times generally low…People who were using their services generally gave good feedback, higher than the England average and felt well-supported by staff who went out of their way to put people’s needs first. People also told us staff were creative in helping to keep them well at home for longer to prevent them from needing acute, residential or more long-term help. This was reflected in what staff told us about having been given permission by leaders to do what was needed to keep people well and safe”
And whilst there were of course areas for improvement, this feedback is so positive and I thank all my colleagues in Adult Social Care for the work that they have done to achieve this outcome – not just in the inspection but for our residents who they work to support.
In September there was a joint area inspection of the council and the integrated care board (NHS) for our services for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The outcome of this inspection left the council and NHS partnership with the lowest rating. This was clearly very disappointing as it meant that we have not provided the level of support our children and young people with special education needs want and deserve. Whilst the inspection report did highlight some positives, it made clear that there is much more we need to do before we are providing children and their families with the timely and inclusive support they need.
However, what is critical to our future improvement is what I have seen since the inspection took place – how positively colleagues and leaders in the service have responded to this challenging outcome. There has been a clarity and purpose in the response, a recognition of how the work which had been done to date was not good enough and how we needed to act decisively, openly and honestly to build trust again with families, schools and partners. There is still much to do but it is important to acknowledge how hard this has been for colleagues, how passionate and dedicated they are about improving educational outcomes for children with special educational needs and disabilities and the very positive signs which are already emerging of progress being made, driven by the commitment and forward-looking attitude of leaders and colleagues alike.
These are just 2 examples of the very many successes and challenges we have faced over the past year. Working as one council is about celebrating successes but it is as much about supporting colleagues who are facing challenging circumstances. The Derbyshire Spirit encapsulates how we strive to achieve whilst we work collaboratively to support each other to deliver the best we can for the people of Derbyshire. How we measure our effectiveness is both through our successes and how we respond to the difficult times and the challenges.
I am very much looking forward to the next year, where we can move forward, as one council, achieving all we can for our residents and communities, through you, our colleagues, who are the heart and soul of Derbyshire County Council.
Thank you
Emma