Ofsted Report - Unannounced Inspection of Social Care

Last month the County Council had the pleasure of a two day unannounced inspection of Social Care.   These are genuinely unannounced, with the OFSTED team letting you know about the inspection from the Car Park outside.

I am quite a fan of this system - it makes sure that they see life as it is (not sure how social workers feel about it though!)  Anyway, the resulting report was published last week and can be found here.

I think it is a reasonably accurate reflection of where we are and shows the progress that has been made since the last unannounced inspection.  If they had found any significant problems, they would have been included on the report as "Priority Areas for Action"  - there are none and that says something about where we are.

The most important thing about the report is whether it uncovered anything we weren't aware of, and I am pleased to say it didn't.  It shows that we know our Social Care set up well.  The issues that are identified are all part of the reason we are moving towards a different model of Social Care and the difficult process of moving to that model will be helped by the high staff moral that is recognised in the report as a strength.

In the recent past Social Workers have not had a great press.   I have to say that I am always impressed by the dedication and attitude of our Social Workers in Cambridgeshire.