William Walter, managing director of specialist adult social care PR consultancy, Townsend Communications, interviews Sheila Norris, joint chief executive of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), to get her take on the CQC’s new assessment framework

Why has ADASS called for a delay in the implementation of the new ‘assurance’ assessment framework?

ADASS supports a transparent approach to adult social care. When ‘assurance’ was originally proposed we instead advocated a reform, funding and a long-term plan led approach. However, to ensure an effective outcomes based assessment approach for those who draw on social care, support, and safeguards, we have worked closely with the CQC and others to develop the methodology. Last winter, we called for a delay to the introduction of the assessments so that services could focus their resources on supporting people during the winter crisis. With a handful of pilots this summer and initial full assessments in the autumn, this staged approach should enable the CQC to test, learn and refine their approach.

What could have been done to better prepare local authorities for ‘assurance’ going live on 1 April 2023?

Local authorities would have been better prepared if key documentation, such as the CQC’s local authority assurance framework, had been published at an earlier stage. We are still awaiting the publication of key elements of the assurance process.

In the absence of the timely publication of these documents, local authorities, ADASS regions and national ADASS, working in partnership with LGA as Partners in Care and Health have undertaken a significant amount of preparation work, including self- assessments, annual conversations, peer reviews and mock inspections, etc.

In the long term, do you believe the shift in assessment responsibility will improve or weaken understanding of care provision and integration in local areas?

The CQC’s local authority assessment provides an opportunity to raise the profile of adult social care, while offering greater transparency surrounding the effectiveness and quality of care services. the CQC’s assessment framework will look at how local areas co-produce services with people who draw on care and support. Local authorities will have the opportunity to highlight the work they’ve done to improve access to care services because of the implementation of assurance, for example, through the CQC, including a focus on social care waiting times in their assessment framework. Once fully operational, the new assessments will offer greater understanding of the effectiveness of integrating services and whether these are making people’s lives better.

What are the advantages of continuous assessments compared to one-off assessments?

Continuous assessments provide a barometer by which local authorities can learn and reflect on what they do well and what they can improve upon. The findings underpin their improvement plans and activity, which will be supplemented by the Sector Led Improvement offer from Partners in Care and Health ( Joint ADASS/LGA). Each local authority will be subject to a CQC assessment on a two-year cycle, providing local residents with certainty there will be regular scrutiny of adult social care in their area.

However, while the government wants individual ratings for each council, it’s important any single word rating is presented clearly alongside a narrative and potentially sub-ratings across the assessed themes. A single word rating alone wouldn’t show the public how good different parts of the service are. Ofsted’s inspections of children’s social care show the detrimental impact a negative single word judgement can have.