Delight for borough care homes

The goods news follows an ongoing programme of care home reform in the borough with Wigan Council working closely with providers to improve quality of care for residents.

Other news: Dad's warning: Don't let GPs miss signs of cancerLast year only 55 per cent of the borough’s residential homes were rated as good or outstanding by the Care Quality Commission.

And earlier this year Wigan homes were ranked as the third most improved care homes in the UK over the last 12 months out of 151 local authorities.

In 2016 care providers were encouraged to bid to the council’s Innovation Fund for a slice of £2m to make the homes fit for the future.

The investment has supported residential and nursing care and helped the sector to address some of the issues it is facing including an ageing population and difficulties retaining staff.

Coun Keith Cunliffe, deputy leader and cabinet member for adult social care and health, said: “Our aim is to ensure every home provides excellent, kind and compassionate care to residents and their families. This improvement in quality of care has been achieved through developing great relationships with providers based on shared goals and values. Our providers have absolutely embraced The Deal and our different way of working and it is clearly having a positive impact.

“Our priority was to give everyone the opportunity to retain their independence and connect into the community while experiencing the best care.

“Working in partnership with our providers we all share the vision to buck the national trend and have the highest standards of care in Wigan for our residents.”

Thanks to acting early and following a clear plan that focused on transforming rather than cutting services, Wigan Council has managed to keep its savings programme on track with £115m already saved to date.

Bold reforms in delivering adult social care have helped the council stay on budget despite being one of the worst hit councils by budget reductions and facing increasing demand from an ageing population.

It is believed to one of a handful of councils to have a balanced adult social care budget thanks to its innovative and efficient approach.