Written question asked by Lord Ashley of Stoke (Labour), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Darzi of Denham (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 May 2009.

Care Services: Social Workers

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government what checks are made to ensure that clients of social workers are satisfied with their care.

Answer: I am informed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) that, when carrying out an inspection, it provides surveys to help reach a range of people who have an interest in the quality of the services being inspected. Surveys are provided in different formats to make them accessible to more people. The CQC compares information from these surveys with other evidence that has been gathered to form a judgement about the quality of the care provided. The surveys include optional questions about equality and diversity to help the CQC to understand how well the service is meeting the needs of people from a diverse range of backgrounds. However, the responsibility for measuring the impact on, and outcomes for, service users rests with the local council that commissions the service. Evidence from local involvement networks, national surveys and Commission for Social Care Inspection surveys obtained from service and regulatory inspections will give appropriate opportunities to triangulate the results with councils' own monitoring and survey work to form a view on the quality of services.

Secondary information