NORTH YORKSHIRE COUNCIL
12 November 2025
STATEMENT OF EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR HEALTH AND ADULT SERVICES
Care Quality Commission (CQC) Inspection Report
North Yorkshire Council’s Adult Social Care CQC Inspection report was published on 30th October, and we have been rated as ‘Good’, with an overall score of 81 out of 100, which at the point of publication, is the joint 3rd best score of any council in the country.
An inspection by the CQC provides a very clear barometer for any local authority to see how well it is doing in providing such important services. To have received such an encouraging report is testament to all the hard work, determination and talent of our staff and partners in the community, including people who use care and support services, and is also a reflection of the support all members give to the directorate.
It is important that as well as celebrating our achievements we focus on how to improve, and we are developing an action plan in response to the report.
Adult Social Care Restructure
Our restructure of the directorate will go live in January. We have made management savings through the first phase, and been able to reinvest into our community assessment teams, with more staff moving into our front door services and intermediate care. I recognise that any restructure will be unsettling for staff and am grateful for the professionalism that has been shown throughout this process.
Provider failure update
Our provider of technology enabled care services, NRS Healthcare, entered administration earlier in the summer and we worked quickly to secure an alternative provider and ensure continuity of service for the more than 1000 people who rely on this service. NRS provided services to 41 local authorities, meaning the response required a degree of national coordination and communication. A new contract began with MedEquip connect on 1st August, and this service was mobilised in a matter of days with HAS teams working with the new provider at pace to ensure continuity for those using the service. MedEquip continue to scale up the service offer as the new contract matures.
Supported Housing Procurement
In October the executive approved a new model to procure supported housing schemes. Since 2015 we have commissioned Extra Care housing schemes through a closed framework, this framework has now expired and a new model will be in place from November. This model, known as the Supported Housing Programme of Procurements (PoP), will facilitate the development of a wider range of supported housing solutions beyond the standard models of Extra Care that have been delivered previously – this will include Extra Care for people with complex care needs and smaller scale schemes for rural communities as well as a range of supported housing options.
Digital Care Records
We are moving from paper to digital care records across all our North Yorkshire Council Care Provider and Reablement Services. Following a procurement process, the digital care records system is being provided by One Touch Health. Alongside digital care records, the system also includes the e-scheduling of staff rotas, which will enable us to make the most effective and efficient use of our staff.
We are taking a phased approach to the implementation of the system, and, to date, we have successfully implemented the system across thirteen services in the Selby, Hambleton and Richmond areas. Initial feedback from staff has been positive and we are starting to use the information provided by the system to improve the management of our services. The roll out across all services is due to be completed by August 2026.
Living Well Smokefree
Smoking is the UK’s biggest preventable killer – causing around 1 in 4 cancer deaths and leading to 64,000 deaths per year in England. It puts huge pressure on the NHS, almost every minute of every day someone is admitted to hospital because of smoking, and up to 75,000 GP appointments could be attributed to smoking each month - equivalent to over 100 appointments every hour.
Over the last year our ‘Living Well Smokefree’ initiative has seen a 30% increase in referrals into the service (210 extra referrals), a 33% increase in people accessing the service and a 39% increase in people quitting at the 4 week point (59 extra). Positive progress within our priority populations has seen more people from these groups accessing the service following targeted work such as holding regular clinics at Harrogate Homeless Project, Job Centre Plus, Broadacres, NY Connected Spaces and North Yorkshire Horizons.
Award Winning Apprentice
Lily Mercer, one of our a reablement care and support worker in Skipton, has been named Advanced Apprentice of the Year at the North Yorkshire Apprenticeship Awards. She also received a special recognition certificate in the health and public service category. Lily recently completed her apprenticeship and has since secured a team leader role. She’s passionate about mentoring others and encouraging people to join the care sector, saying her apprenticeship gave her the skills and confidence to grow and support her team.
Our adult health and social care apprenticeship programme also won Training Provider/Programme of the Year, recognising its innovative approach to developing future leaders and strengthening recruitment and retention.
John Suddaby, Chair of Carers Plus Yorkshire
Finally, I want to send condolences to Carers Plus Yorkshire, one of our key partner organisations, on the very sudden death in August of their Chair, John Suddaby, who was a very strong advocate for unpaid carers and for the organisation that he led.
COUNCILLOR MICHAEL HARRISON