More than 70 Somerset care providers have come together for a County Council organised workshop on improving care quality.
The last 12 months have seen a significant increase in number of care homes and providers rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by the care watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
The county is ahead of the regional and national averages and the ‘Achieving Outstanding’ event aimed to continue the trend by sharing best practice, good ideas and CQC expertise.
Co-hosted with Somerset Registered Care Providers Association (RCPA), the event included a presentation from Senior CQC inspector Sue Burn as well as group work and discussions on subjects such as leadership.
Councillor David Huxtable, Cabinet Member for Adult Social care, said: “The success we have seen in recent months is down to a lot of hard work from providers and their staff.
“The Council is here to challenge and support providers to improve and sessions like this are a really helpful way of learning from each other, the CQC and our staff.
“The work can be demanding so to see so many people within the sector looking to improve their offering to residents is inspiring, and as a Council we need to support them in these endeavours.”
“The general picture in Somerset is very good,” added Sue Burn. “The county is within the top 20 per cent of high performers with most achieving a good rating. The attendance for this event shows the positive attitude they have towards constantly improving their offering to the individuals they care for.”
Sandra Joyce operates three care homes in the region, along with a Domiciliary Care Service. All of which have been rated as good, with outstanding elements. Already operating a successful group of businesses she was keen to still find ways to improve the service that is offered to those in her care.
She said: “We are always looking to improve, and by attending today I am hoping that some of the information that has been shared with us will now enable me to go back to my business, refocus our delivery, and again look at what we can do to make sure our residents have the best care we are able to provide”.
There are around 350 care providers in Somerset: 225 residential care homes, 60 nursing homes and 70 home care providers. Figures from the beginning of December show that in the last 14 months the proportion of providers rated good or outstanding in Somerset has risen from 79 per cent to nearly 88 per cent today.
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