We welcome the findings of the Chief Inspector’s Annual Report 2023 to 2024, which was published by Care Inspectorate Wales last week.
In the report, the Chief Inspector revealed that “most care in Wales is good care, with nearly three-quarters of care homes and domiciliary support services receiving ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ ratings last year”.
The report showed that 74 per cent of care home and domiciliary support services in Wales were rated ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ in 2023 to 2024, and that 77 per cent of childcare and play settings were rated ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.
The report also highlighted a number of cross-cutting issues affecting the social care sector in Wales.
Sarah McCarty, our Chief Executive, said: “I welcome the publication of the report and the Chief Inspector’s comments recognising the “very dedicated workforce” we have and the value care services bring to our communities across Wales, helping transform people’s “lives for the better”.
“We’re committed to doing all we can to support the social care and childcare, play and early years sectors in Wales, and we have a number of initiatives in place to support the sectors with some of the issues and challenges noted in the report.
“We’re supporting the sector with compassionate leadership with a number of resources.
“These include our compassionate and collective leadership programme, which aims to improve the leadership qualities among senior leaders. Last year, 87 per cent of those who completed the programme told us they were satisfied it met their needs.
“We’re committed to sharing the good practice we know is happening across the sectors, too.
“The project finder on our Insight Collective website, for example, shares information, ideas and learning about innovative practice examples and research initiatives.
“It aims to help people connect with and learn from each other, and we encourage people to share the important lessons they’ve learned along the way, which could be really useful inspiration and learning for others.
“Our annual Accolades awards continue to shine a light on the notable and innovative work that’s happening across the social care and childcare, play and early years sectors.
“2025 will mark the 20th anniversary of the awards and we’re looking forward to recognising, celebrating and sharing even more of that great work in the spring.
“Additionally, we’re continuing to support the sector with attracting, recruiting and retaining staff via our WeCare Wales programme.
“The national campaign aims to raise awareness and understanding of those working in social care and early years, childcare and play, and what a career in care looks like.
“There are free resources employers can use, and the jobs portal is an easy way for social care and early years employers to advertise their vacancies and for people to see the vacancies available in their area. Last year, we saw an increase in the number of jobs posted on the jobs portal and in the number of applications received.
“We want to support services striving to provide excellent care for all citizens across Wales. I'd encourage employers to reach out to our employer support service to see how we can support your service.”