Croydon Council has launched its new Adult Social Care and Health Strategy, setting out priorities for the next five years when supporting older people, disabled adults, and unpaid carers.
The refreshed five-year strategy will build on Croydon’s Adult Social Care and Health services receiving a ‘Good’ rating by the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) in October last year, recognising the borough’s commitment to delivering high-quality, person-centred care and support to residents.
More than 1,000 people contributed to the plans, including over 850 residents, through surveys, drop‑ins, focus groups and workshops. The ideas from the community will help shape the services provided to residents.
The strategy, which was approved at Cabinet on 29 January, builds on Executive Mayor Jason Perry’s priority to support and enable residents to live healthier, more independent lives.
Among the six areas of focus are supported to live more independently, such as through therapy or developing life skills, and making sure adults are supported earlier before social workers are involved, by delivering more local and preventative services.
Improving the range and accessibility of accommodation is also a focus, helping people to live in their own homes for longer, or in more independent accommodation when they need more help.
Croydon is proudly diverse, with more than 100 different languages spoken by residents. The Council listened to a wide range of communities as part of its engagement on the strategy and one of the priorities to come out of this is to make sure residents receive the best quality service, regardless of their background.
Ima Miah, CEO of the Asian Resource Centre of Croydon, said: “This strategy is a positive step towards addressing the deep-rooted inequalities experienced by many communities in Croydon.
“The early engagement with Asian residents created space for honest conversations about access, trust and quality of care, and it is encouraging to see those insights shaping future priorities. Continued partnership working will be key to turning this ambition into meaningful change.”
The Council will continue to work closely with health and community partners to provide more joined-up services that are easy to access.
It will build on Croydon’s Adults Living Independently programme and its Future Croydon transformation programme – to become a more efficient and cost-effective Council that puts residents first.
“We are proud of our ‘good’ rating for our adult social care and health services and are working with our residents, partners and unpaid carers to build on this success and make sure our services keep getting better.
“Like other local authorities, Croydon is experiencing unprecedented demand for adult social care services. This refreshed plan sets out how prevention is fundamental to Croydon’s financial sustainability. By providing better outcomes for adults, we will deliver better value for money for all residents.”
Jason Perry, Executive Mayor of Croydon
A launch event of the new strategy is being held on Wednesday 11 February, 2-3.45pm in Braithwaite Hall, Croydon Town Hall, Katharine Street, Croydon CR0 1NX.
It is open to the public and guests can find out about the next steps of putting the strategy into practice. Register your place here and please tell us if you have any accessibility requirements.
