This meeting of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel was scheduled to include a presentation about the Council's preparedness for the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) new inspection regime for adult social care and a report on local vaccination rates.

Adult Social Care - Care Quality Commission (CQC) Assurance Preparation

The Panel was scheduled to receive a presentation on the Council's preparations for the CQC’s new inspection regime for adult social care.

The report, which was provided to attendees in advance of the meeting, notes that:

The Adult Social Care function within Local Authorities, has not had a Care Quality Commissioning (CQC) assurance regime in place since 2010.

• Adult Social Care - Care Quality Commission CQC Assurance Preparation

The new CQC inspection regime includes a self-assessment process that must be completed by each local authority, followed by an on-site inspection by the CQC. The report identifies a number of areas where the Royal Borough of Greenwich has assessed its adult social care services as good or excellent, including safeguarding, support for residents with disabilities, and partnership working between the council and health providers. However, it also identifies some areas for improvement, including increasing the uptake of direct payments, capturing more data about equality, diversity and inclusion, and developing more strategic partnerships with care providers.

Vaccination Rates Update

The Panel was also scheduled to receive a report on vaccination rates in Greenwich. The report notes that:

Currently, both locally and nationally, we are seeing vaccination rates at their lowest point for a number of years.

• Vaccination Rates Update

The report sets out a number of reasons for this decline, including post-COVID pressures on primary care, difficulties accessing NHS services and vaccine hesitancy. It highlights the importance of vaccination, noting that it is the second most effective public health intervention, after clean water, that protects and saves lives.

The report also provides details of recent initiatives that have been launched in Greenwich in order to improve vaccination rates, including a new incentive scheme to encourage GPs to provide vaccinations in community settings and the commissioning of pharmacies to offer childhood vaccinations.