Following an inspection undertaken by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in the summer of 2025, the Council’s adult social care provision has received a ‘Good’ rating, achieving an overall score of 70% across the categories considered.
The full assessment report can be read on CQC’s website, along with further information about the categories of evidence considered and the overall scoring framework.
In CQC’s announcement of the report, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care and Integrated Care, James Bullion stated: “The Council of the Isles of Scilly has strong leadership, committed staff, and effective partnerships.” He also highlighted our “committed and caring” adult social care workforce, who were found to be “delivering support that improves people’s lives,” and acknowledged that “strong partnerships ensured systems were safe, well-co-ordinated and responsive.”
How we were scored
CQC looked at 9 areas, spread across 4 themes, to assess how well we are meeting our responsibilities to ensure people have access to adult social care and support under the Care Act (2014). CQC has given each of these 9 areas a score out of 4 according to the following scoring key:
Scoring key:
- Evidence shows significant shortfalls
- Evidence shows some shortfalls
- Evidence shows a good standard
- Evidence shows an exceptional standard
The following table shows our scores across the 4 themes, which resulted in our ‘Good’ rating:
Theme |
Area |
Score |
|---|---|---|
|
How the local authority works with people |
1. assessing people’s needs |
3 |
| 2. supporting people to lead healthier lives |
3 | |
| 3. equity in experience and outcomes |
2 | |
| Providing support | 4. care provision, integration and continuity of care |
3 |
| 5. partnership and communities |
3 | |
| How the local authority ensures safety in the system | 6. safe pathways, systems and transitions |
3 |
| 7. safeguarding |
3 | |
| Leadership | 8. governance, management and sustainability |
2 |
| 9. learning, improvement and innovation |
3 |
People’s experiences of the service
The report presents some really good examples of social care delivery and summarises that people’s experiences in the local authority were “generally good.” Inspectors found that “assessments, reviews, safeguarding and care were experienced without delay” and that people had experienced “a very person-centred, supportive service owing to the nature of the small population on the islands and close-knit nature of the community.”
The report reflects experiences where “efforts were made to meet people’s needs early before they escalated into more serious concerns” and surmises that “although there was a lack of choice because of the small and remoteness of the islands, staff and services were flexible and creative with partners to meet people’s needs and wishes.” Inspectors also recognised the “good impact of reablement and intermediate care,” and were reassured that “arrangements for out-of-hours services were effective.”
Only 2 areas out of the 8 considered were highlighted as requiring some improvements to achieve a good outcome. The first was in “equity in experience and outcomes,” where inspectors highlighted some limitations in providing a consistent level of services, particularly as a result of the geography of the islands’ communities. Inspectors emphasised the need to ensure that “all communities receive consistent, equitable support building on the positive partnerships already in place.”
The second area marked for improvement was in “governance, management and stability,” which acknowledged the challenges the Council has in recruiting and retaining staff in this sector, particularly given the acute shortages in the adult social care market across the whole UK.
Dr Sue Ross, Interim Director of Children’s and Adults’ Services said: “I’m thrilled that the efforts of our adult social care staff to provide ‘person-centred care’ have been recognised by the Care Quality Commission, and that the importance and strength of the partnerships across, and beyond, the islands has been highlighted. I look forward to working with everyone to implement and embed the improvements needed, and to continue the sterling work which has enabled our adult social care services to achieve a ‘Good’ outcome in the face of the considerable challenges facing the sector both nationally and locally.”
Councillor Avril Mumford, Lead Member for Adults, said: “A ‘Good’ rating from the Care Quality Commission really is worthy of celebration and I would like to pass on my sincere congratulations to everybody who has helped to achieve this outcome. As Lead Member for Adults, I welcome the inspection report and look forward to participating in a full discussion of the findings following an update from our new Interim Director of Children’s and Adults’ Services at the meeting of Full Council in October.”
Councillor Robert Francis, Chairman of the Council of the Isles of Scilly said: “This rating comes as extremely welcome news. Congratulations and thank you to all of the staff involved in ensuring that these services are in a strong position, particularly as we approach the next phase of the Integrated Health and Social Care Project. It’s encouraging that the report recognises the rapid progress that health and care services on the islands, as a whole, have made towards truly integrated support and innovative service delivery, and I hope you will all tune in to the meeting of Full Council in October to hear more about how the service will respond to the findings.”