News

Social Services in Poole has been praised and received a two star rating under a new Government scheme to assess performance.

As part of a national scheme to continually review and improve services, Councils across England and Wales have been assessed by the independent Social Services Inspectorate (SSI).

Each Council has been given a rating from 0-3 stars using a common framework and evidence from inspections, reviews and performance indicators to assesses the overall performance of Social Services.

Cllr Jane James, Executive Portfolio Holder for Tackling Disadvantage, said: "We are delighted to see that Poole's efforts have been recognised by the Government, especially given the increased funding that has been invested by the Council and the community this year. Whilst there have been some tough decisions there have been good results and this assessment recognises the commitment of our staff to improve the quality of services for the most vulnerable people in the town".

In Poole's latest report Inspectors identified significant improvements in last year's performance in areas such as:

• Increasing intensive home care services to maintain frail and older people in their own homes
• Helping people with mental health problems and learning disabilities to live at home
• People said they received help quickly - registering Poole with the highest rating nationally

The Inspectors also acknowledged that:

• Poole's Foster Care Services served most people well and had excellent prospects for improvement
• Delayed hospital discharges (i.e. blocked beds) were kept at a low level
• Problems presented by the closure of nursing and residential homes in Poole were identified and the steps being taken to manage them

In addition to the star rating Government Inspectors 'valued the openness and commitment to learn from and improve performance' and assessed Poole's prospects of continuing to improve as 'promising'.

Areas the Borough will be working on over the next year include:

• Increased adoptions of children looked after by the Council
• Reducing the number of children coming back on the Child Protection Register

Helping more older people and disabled people helped to live at home

For more information contact:

Michelle Holland, PR Manager, Borough of Poole, tel: 01202 633029