Richmond Council has been rated the best in London for social care-related quality of life and overall satisfaction of people who use services with their care and support, amongst other achievements highlighted in its Adult Social Care End of Year Performance Report.  

The reports sets out the Council's achievements and challenges in supporting adults in social care from April 2022 to March 2023, against The Department of Health and Social Care's Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF).

It also highlights how Richmond Council has performed in comparison to 30 other London Councils (excluding the City of London and London Borough of Hackney). 

Cllr Piers Allen, Chair of the Adult Social Services, Health and Housing Committee, said: "This performance report is fantastic news – we're very pleased to be celebrating another year of high achievement for our community of vulnerable adults and their care network.  

'Whilst we are still working to overcome the system-wide challenges placed on services by the COVID-19 pandemic, our performance continues to not only improve, but remain at the top in crucial key indicators.

"A service user survey is carried out as part of this performance analysis, and it is the people who live in our borough and access our services who have told us they are happy with the care they receive and their quality of life as a result.

He added: "This is the most important indicator there is. As the largest proportion of our residents' Council Tax is spent on supporting vulnerable adults and their care network through our Adult Social Care services, it is imperative that we deliver outstanding services that support and enhance quality of life for those people we care for.  

"My tremendous thanks goes out to everyone in our care sector, who work tirelessly to ensure Richmond upon Thames is and continues to be a great place for people to live." 

In 22/23, there were 19 ASCOF indicators which performance was measured by, in two categories: Service user survey (eight) and Performance indicators (11). 

Richmond Council is in the top quartile for 13 indicators and continues to perform best in London for social care-related quality of life and overall satisfaction of people who use services with their care and support.

It has also been ranked top in London for the proportion of people receiving short-term services, with the outcome being either no or less ongoing support needed.

It remains the second highest in London for proportion of services users supported by a direct payment to help them live independently in their own home. 

Some indicators show there are areas where all Councils are challenged in maintaining high performance as a direct result of the pandemic, including the number of older people admissions into care homes.

This benchmarking exercise confirms that Richmond upon Thames has been impacted to the same extent as other councils, but that overall performance remains very high.

The Council maintains its focus on working to ensure residents are supported to live independently at home wherever possible through reablement services and the use of care technology.