CQC report set to slam 'unsatisfactory' experience for over 65s in Northamptonshire

The health watchdog is expected to hit out at the lack of a clear, shared vision for care services for pensioners, while it also noted that staff did not know its care improvement plans ‘on the ground’ and were neither excited or as motivated as they should be by it.

The whole-system CQC review is due to be officially reported in July, but councillors on the adults, health and wellbeing scrutiny committee were given a verbal update of the key findings ahead of publication from Anna Earnshaw, the executive director for Northamptonshire Adult Social Services (NASS).

She said: “It will be reported in full, and these are just my personal notes. But from the CQC’s view, it was very clear that there was no shared vision.

“This is not a good experience for people who have long delays. We must do more.”

The report is set to praise the work of the Holistic Intermediate Care Team (HICT), which cares for people with dementia, and the crisis response team.

But it found concerns in other areas, Mrs Earnshaw told the councillors on Wednesday morning.

Inspectors found there was too much focus on ‘bed-based care’ and that more work needed to be done on ‘timely discharges’ to places that were right for patients, and not the system.

Some risk aversion was also witnessed, with inspectors expected to note that health staff and discharge team need to be ‘bold and brave’ about decisions, and work towards a ‘home first’ principle.

The report is also likely to highlight a 'real concern' over the lack of out of hours primary care.