People receiving care in Windsor and Maidenhead are less satisfied with it than they used to be, the latest data has shown.
According to the latest quarterly report, the percentage of care users satisfied with the support they receive has dropped – moving RBWM from fourth to 119th place nationally (out of 153).
In truth, this change is not as dramatic as it first seems. The satisfaction percentage has dropped from about 73 per cent to 61 per cent.
But because many local authorities are also hovering around this mark, it brings RBWM down a lot of places in the rankings.
Officers of the council say the fall appears to be driven by an increase in neutral responses rather than a surge in dissatisfaction.
Feedback from care users points to tighter care packages (such as three daily care visits being reduced to two) and high staff turnover as reasons for people being less satisfied with the care they receive.
Financial pressures are forcing the council to commission only statutory minimum care packages – risking reduced satisfaction and a knock to the council’s reputation.
The administration has repeatedly said that the costs of adult social care in the borough is one of its biggest financial pressures.
This largely represents a national pattern, exacerbated by the borough’s already tricky financial situation.
The council’s budget for 2025-26 includes an additional £9.4million funding for adult social care - reflecting how costly this service area is.
On the more positive side, RBWM has seen success in addressing recruitment challenges. Six new permanent social workers have been hired, reducing reliance on expensive agency staff.
Meanwhile, permanent admissions to care for those aged 65 and over are trending downward, and smoking cessation and drug treatment services are outperforming targets.
Moreover, RBWM is still performing in the top 10 nationally for several key measures, including quality of life, support for carers, and limiting admissions to residential care.
Further, 80 per cent of people using adult social care services said they felt they had control over their daily life, exceeding regional and national averages.
The same report also looked at children’s services. It found that the placement of children in foster care remains a critical concern.
The proportion of children placed with the council’s fostering agency has fallen to 50 per cent, against a target of 85 per cent. This target was recently increased however – it used to be 60 per cent.
Contributing factors for this drop include a national shortage of foster carers against increased demand, particularly for older children with complex needs.
Nonetheless, the latest Ofsted report for the Royal Borough’s fostering service (released in March this year) did say that those children currently being fostered are ‘thriving.’
Despite the pressures, referral rates of children to children’s services have dropped below regional and national levels.
Evidence suggests that early intervention is helping prevent problems from escalating.
Young people who were in the care of the borough are also seeing some improvements with waiting times for independent accommodation.
This now averages six months, thanks to better coordination with housing services, the report says.
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