Waiting times for care assessments up to two years

Dudley people needing a care review could be waiting more than two years according to a government watchdog.

A report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) says data provided by Dudley Council for July 2025 shows reviews of residents’ care needs could be up to 899 days overdue.

The information, which was published in March 2026, was provided for an inspection of adult social care at the authority.

The CQC report said: “Partners shared that it could be challenging to secure a timely review when people’s needs changed. 

“Others told us that in some cases, people experienced long waits before being assessed which meant people were having longer periods of time without any social care or support. 

“Data provided by the local authority showed there were 1,123 people waiting for a review in July 2025, with a median of 160 days overdue and a maximum of 899 days overdue.”

The report also refers to an incident where a person had been waiting for a review for so long they raised a safeguarding concern, even though there was no safeguarding issue, in the hope of speeding up the process.

The report will be discussed by the council’s Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee at a meeting on August 3.

Overall the CQC rated the council’s service as ‘good’ saying leaders and staff were passionate and committed and had a good understanding of the strategy to achieve the best outcomes.

The report said: “Staff were skilled, committed, felt supported in their roles and were positive about learning and development opportunities for career progression and development.”

A report for the scrutiny committee signed by Emma Matthews, Dudley’s director of adult social care, also identified Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) as an area which needed improvement.

The report said: “Although staff were proactively reviewing risks and reprioritising cases where concerns arose, the CQC considered the arrangements overly reliant on local management oversight rather than a structured corporate process.”

Following the CQC’s visit the authority introduced changes; the report added: “The dedicated DoLs team have reduced the waiting list from 434 cases at inspection, to 350 cases in January 2026 and 165 cases in May 2026.” 

Councillors on the committee will be told progress since the 2025 inspection has been ‘limited’ with challenges affecting performance, staff turnover and morale.

The report said: “Many of the improvement areas identified by the CQC will be addressed through structural and service redesign, by the implementation of the Adult Social Care Remodel. 

“The remodel introduces dedicated functions for assessment, reviewing, safeguarding, hospital discharge and demand management, alongside strengthened management oversight, clearer pathways and improved governance arrangements.

“While service continuity has been maintained to date, this is no longer sustainable without increasing risk to both service users and staff wellbeing. 

“Failure to implement the new model presents a significant risk to compliance with statutory duties, alongside increased exposure to legal and reputational risk. 

“While the CQC judged Dudley Adult Social Care to be delivering a good standard of service, the council’s ambition is to achieve an outstanding rating at future assessment.”