Nottingham City Council has been judged to be good in delivering adult care services, with a promising capacity for further improvement. The Council has retained its 2* rating.

In the table of performance indicators, or targets, the city council, has jumped 85 places to a fifth place for providing adult care in the city. The performance table is one part of the overall judgement and shows that the city Council has greatly improved during 2006 to 2007.

The figures are in a report from the Commission for Social Care Inspection, the Government’s regulator and inspector of social care services. The inspection recognised that City Council care was based around the individual needs of residents. This enabled people to stay in their own homes with the support of a wide range of services and gave them more flexible provision, choice and control.

The judgements on Nottingham City Council’s Adult Services were:

• ‘Excellent’ for helping people to access resources to help them manage financially; for the leadership of adult care services.

 •‘Good’ for services that improve the quality of life; improve health and emotional well-being; keep service users free from discrimination or harassment; give City residents increased choice and control of their own social care; enable them to make a positive contribution to their local community; maintain personal dignity and respect, and offer drug and alcohol treatment for people with mental health problems.

The Council was also judged to have ‘promising capacity’ to improve services still further.

Councillor Leon Unczur, the City Council’s portfolio holder for Adult Services, Housing and Health, welcomed the City Council’s excellent showing and congratulated everyone helping provide care services to City residents.

He said: "Nottingham is now among the best performing councils in the country for providing adult care for its residents."

The inspection found other City Council strengths included:

•Initiatives to encourage healthy lifestyles

•Safeguarding service users against abuse and neglect

•Good range of preventative services provided in partnership with other agencies

•Clear welfare benefits advice

•Focus on giving service users choice and control.

Modernisation of sheltered housing and a conversion to ‘extra care’ facilities that offer 24-hour care available on site if needed, was highlighted as one of the main areas for improvement. Others were an increase take up of direct payments; an increase in assessment bed provision, particularly for people with dementia; more drugs and alcohol preventative work to make sure it reaches all residents; quicker delivery of equipment, and more involvement of carers.

Councillor Unczur said: "This has been achieved because the City Council and its staff are committed to maintaining people in their own homes with support where necessary, for as long as possible, which is what we find is what most people want to do."

"The inspection gives the Council an objective appraisal of strengths and points out where there can be further improvements. An action plan is already in place to carry out the recommendations in the inspection report and these will be monitored regularly and carefully."

Sallyanne Johnson, the City Council’s Corporate Director for Adult Services, Housing and Health, congratulated the staff who had helped achieve the Inspection result.

"We are delighted with this assessment of our performance but we are not complacent. The judgement gives us promising prospects for further improvements and we shall be building on these achievements."