Adult social care: 'Smiles show people are happy'

Camden has become the first council in the country to be rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for its adult social care provision.

The Greenwood Centre, which opened in 2019, is the borough's first centre of independent living - run by and for adults with disabilities - and is designed with mental health needs in mind.

Sharon Elliott, who has been using the centre for "a long long time", said "people get a lot out of out of it, because you see a smile on their face."

This is the first time such an award has been given to any local authority - although only 25 out of 153 have been inspected.

Ms Elliott said: "On different days, I do different things - cooking, play games, I do art on a Thursday.

"I talk to everybody even though some of the service users can't talk, you still communicate with them."

James Bullion, CQC's chief inspector of adult social care, described the centre as "providing exceptional levels of service" and said he was "very impressed".

He added: "Their clear commitment to equity, making sure everyone was able to access services in a way that suited their needs and reduce inequalities was at the heart of everything they were doing.

"This is especially important in Camden, which is more ethnically diverse than the England average with 40% of people identifying as Black, Asian, or another ethnic group."

The borough also has pockets of affluence and deprivation with a 20-year difference in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas.

Mr Bullion said: "Against this backdrop, it was incredibly impressive to see the high-quality and person-centred support they were providing, and the work to reduce these inequalities changes people's lives."

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