Nottingham adult social care had five directors in two years, CQC report says

The Care Quality Commission (CQC), has rated Nottingham City Council as requires improvement, in how well they are meeting their responsibilities to ensure people have access to adult social care and support under the Care Act (2014).

CQC has a new duty under the Act to assess how local authorities work with their communities and partners to meet their responsibilities. CQC previously assessed Nottingham City Council in 2023 while it was piloting its approach to the new assessments. At that pilot assessment, CQC’s report indicated that Nottingham needed to improve how they ensured people had access to adult social care, and the local authority has now retained this requires improvement rating.

CQC looked at nine areas spread across four themes to assess how well the authority is meeting their responsibilities in order to create their requires improvement rating. CQC has given each of these nine areas a score out of four with one being the evidence shows significant shortfalls, and four showing an exceptional standard.

1.    assessing people’s needs: 2

2.    supporting people to lead healthier lives: 2

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3.    equity in experience and outcomes: 2

4.    care provision, integration and continuity of care: 2

5.    partnership and communities: 2

6.    safe pathways, systems and transitions: 1

7.    safeguarding: 2

8.    governance, management and sustainability: 1

9.    learning, improvement and innovation: 2

CQC’s assessment gave the quality of Nottingham City Council a rating of one in some areas. As a result of this, under Section 50(2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, CQC has sent a notification letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care outlining the areas where improvements are needed.

Chris Badger, CQC’s chief inspector of adult social care and integrated care, said:

“Nottingham City Council’s adult social care services had been through a period of instability in recent years, and this was reflected in the experiences people told us and the overall findings of our assessment. The authority had plans in place to make improvements, and we found some positive areas they can use to build on.

“People told us they had mixed experiences of accessing adult social care assessments. Some people had to wait a long time for an initial assessment, but others were seen sooner. When there were delays, the local authority ensured people could still access the care they needed and prioritised people appropriately.

“The local authority didn’t have effective systems and processes in place to manage the risks people faced during their care. 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.”

• Council vows improvements after CQC report into Nottingham adult social care

“The senior leadership team in adult social care had been unstable in recent years. 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.

“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.

“Leaders at Nottingham City Council are aware of the areas where service improvements are needed to ultimately improve people’s outcomes when accessing adult social care services. We look forward to seeing how their plans develop.”

The assessment team found:

1. People had mixed experiences of contacting adult social care services for the first time, with some people waiting a long time to get through on the phone. Data from November 2025 that showed 35% of calls were abandoned, and people waited an average of 9 minutes and 36 seconds for their call to be answered. However, once they got through, people said they received appropriate information, advice and signposting.
2. Unpaid carers told CQC they had mixed experiences of receiving care and support. They spoke positively about the carers hub which provided signposting and advice. Most carers received an assessment, which they felt was positive and said staff listened to them, but some hadn’t received an assessment or weren’t sure if they had.
3. Partners told the team they had been frustrated with the local authority due to poor communication and a high staff turnover. Leaders and staff tried to work with partners to collaborate more effectively and improve people’s experiences.
4. Nottingham City Council didn’t consistently provide information in an accessible format, particularly for non-English speakers and people at risk of digital inclusion. It also didn’t ensure people with sensory impairments could access information or communicate easily.
5. Leaders needed to do more work to ensure the local authority identified and engaged with seldom heard groups in the city. Some projects had taken place, as for example leaders identified that the Chinese and Bangladeshi communities were underrepresented in the number of assessments. In response, community champions engaged with these communities to remove barriers to accessing care and support. However, evidence of the impact on these communities was still emerging.

However:

1. The authority’s short-term support, including reablement services, had a positive impact on people’s wellbeing and independence. It gave people access to assistive technologies, which helped them remain independent at home for as long as possible.
2. New prevention officer roles introduced in 2024 had a positive impact on reducing, delaying or preventing people’s need for care and support, by taking early action to make sure people with lower-level needs had access to relevant advice and signposting.