Lincolnshire County Council assessment

Indicative score:

3 - Evidence shows a good standard

The local authority commitment:

We focus on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across our organisation and the local system. We encourage creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. We actively contribute to safe, effective practice and research.

Key findings for this quality statement

There was a real focus on staff development and learning. Frontline staff all confirmed that they were given opportunities for mandatory training, as well as any specific training that would enable them to carry out their roles more effectively. There were opportunities for a number of unqualified staff to commence social work training each year. The programme of training about strengths-based practice had been rolled out across the local authority over the last year and the approach was clearly embedded in practice.

There were clear systems to ensure that learning from complaints, Safeguarding Adults Reviews (SAR) and any internal audits were shared. This was done in a variety of ways including staff learning events, through managers at team meetings and through written updates. The shared learning from a SAR led to the development of the Team Around the Adult as teams took action to address the learning points. Where the need for improvement was identified, the required actions had been completed or were being implemented.

The senior leadership promoted a culture of openness and transparency and commissioned surveys to be carried out by the internal quality monitoring team as well as external organisations such as Healthwatch. There was ongoing work with the local university to carry out research on behalf of the local authority and to evaluate new systems of work to ensure it was effective.

The Continuous Improvement Plan recorded areas where improvement was needed, and senior leaders monitored this to ensure progress. One of the areas was the further development of technology enabled care (TEC). While many examples of TEC were provided, the local authority and staff have received training to ensure it is considered as part of assessments. Further development is planned.

We heard examples from frontline staff and people with lived experience about the focus on being creative about how people’s support is provided, particularly for those in situations where support may be more challenging to provide. The very real commitment to partnership working and seeking out the organisations with expertise in particular areas had led to more effective ways of ensuring that people’s individuals needs were met.