The number of people waiting for care assessments and reviews in Plymouth has reduced, but occupational therapy is still under pressure.

Between April 2024 and May 2025, the waiting list was slashed from 900 to 250, with those waiting more than 301 days reduced to nine people.

By January 2026, Livewell Southwest, which provides integrated health and social care services in Plymouth and the South Hams, aims to have 85 per cent of Care Act assessments completed within 35 days of a referral.

It’s part of an adult social care improvement plan in the city, which has also seen a 22 per cent rise in the number of people in the system getting a care review within 12 months.

It aims to see the current 58 per cent receiving a care review within that timescale increase to meet the regional benchmark of 61 per cent by November this year.

Livewell told Plymouth City Council’s cabinet meeting it had implemented a new “waiting well” policy, which means it “proactively” keeps in touch with people, ranks them according to urgency, ensures people know who to get in touch with if things change, and has an automatic text system in place to provide updates and reassurance.

But it is still failing to perform in occupational therapy, which was highlighted in a recent peer review and an inspection by the Care Quality Commission.

Livewell says it cannot keep up with demand.

Council leader Tudor Evans (Lab, Ham) said ‘waiting well’ was ok, but that was about making sure no one was in crisis while they were waiting, and the team should be looking at prevention with more resources.

“We need to have a proper conversation about what we do to get more people into the occupational therapy space. The report clearly indicates we do not have enough, and we should be asking for more.

“We need to be asking serious questions about that – it is quite clearly a problem for us down here and we need to know how to solve it and how much money it will cost.”

He said the NHS had been given £22 billion more by the Government, and it was “not all going on buildings”.

And he added: “The Government is going to change the way it is funding us as a local authority for the better and what I do not want to do is waste that money but target it for the things that really matter.”

Cllr Mark Lowry (Lab, Southway) asked for a future report on the Meadow View project, which was a consolidation of the Vine Day Centre and Colwill Lodge services into a single, specially designed facility as a centre of excellence for people with learning and physical disabilities.

It will have a day service and residential care provision on site.

“It’s going to be absolutely amazing and we should be showcasing it,” he said.

Work on Meadow View is due to start next month.