Council's adult social care 'requires improvement'

Adult social care services run by Nottingham City Council require improvement, a report by the watchdog has found.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found "significant shortfalls", including in one area where the authority ensures safety in the system.

Chris Badger, CQC's chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said the authority did not have "effective systems and processes in place to manage the risks people faced during their care". He also said that instability in the senior leadership team had "impacted partnership working, innovation and improvement".

A council spokesperson said work had started on the improvements required by the CQC.

Councillor Helen Kalsi, executive member for adult social care and health, said: "We fully accept the findings of this report."

The watchdog found areas required improvement at the last inspection in 2023. It said the authority "needed to improve how they ensured people had access to adult social care".

The latest assessment scored the areas of governance, management and sustainability and safe pathways, systems and transitions, one out of four - showing "significant shortfalls".

Badger said: "In one example, leaders hadn't taken timely action to ensure there was a clear distinction in assessments and processes for people accessing services after being detained under the Mental Health Act, despite a national improvement partner recommending they do this in a review."

Each of the other seven areas assessed were given a score of two out of four, meaning they had "some shortfalls".

Badger said Nottingham had five directors of adult social services (DASS) in two years and this "instability" had impacted partnership working, innovation and improvement.

"A new leadership team was in place, but hadn't been in post long enough to implement sustained improvements at the time of our visit in December 2025," he added.

"However, people valued staff's approach to assessments, which focused on their goals and promoted their independence.

"Staff provided advice, signposting and support with complex decisions, including safeguarding and financial queries.

"We also found people were able to raise safeguarding concerns in several different ways and staff worked closely with partners to identify and respond to these concerns."

Kalsi said: "We strive to provide good quality services that keep vulnerable people safe, and we have already commenced the work required on improvements that the CQC has highlighted.

"What the report also shows is the commitment and compassion of our workforce, and the difference many of our services are already making for people in Nottingham.

"We have a clear and ambitious improvement plan in place and we are already taking action to reduce waiting times, strengthen services and improve the experience of people who access social care at every stage of their journey."

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