We have today published a report into the work of youth offending teams (YOTs) in tackling alcohol misuse by children and young people.
The joint report, completed with HM Inspectorate of Probation, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and Estyn, shows progress has been achieved but more improvement must be made.
It confirms that YOTs are sufficiently aware of the link between alcohol misuse and:
· Health problems.
· Underachievement in school.
· Offending behaviour.
They are also offering significant and effective health resources where such misuse is believed to be directly linked to offending.
There were, the report found, too many inconsistencies in the quality of assessments across England and Wales, meaning some children will not get the appropriate help.
To address the problems, the report’s authors call for a nationally validated holistic health assessment to ensure appropriate interventions are offered.
Professionals should also ensure alcohol-related needs are prioritised more, the report says, in order to generate more consistent assessments and aligned interventions.
· Read the full press release on the publication:
http://www.cqc.org.uk/newsandevents/newsstories.cfm?FaArea1=customwidgets.content_view_1&cit_id=36371
· Download the full report from here: http://www.justice.gov.uk/inspectorates/hmi-probation/index.htm
Wednesday 30 June 2010
Tuesday 29 June 2010
Improvements at Basildon and Thurrock NHS Trust
· Download the progress report: http://www.cqc.org.uk/publications.cfm?fde_id=15861
In relation to two conditions, the trust has made the necessary improvements within the deadlines set, and we have now removed these two conditions. The conditions outline where and when the trust needs to improve to meet essential standards of quality and safety to be registered under the new monitoring system.
The trust has taken action to meet the following conditions:
·Carry out an assessment of need, including a risk assessment and a care plan for all patients
·Complete an action plan that responds to the trust’s maternity services
The removal of the two conditions comes after a joint site visit with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The visit involved observation of care and interviews with people who use services and hospital staff. The trust must meet the remaining three conditions by July and August 2010:
·provide training in the care of acutely ill patients
·set out systems of supervision and appraisal of staff
·keep the premises safe from legionella infection
There are additional improvements that still need to be made. Inspectors have concerns about:
·the observation of patients in the waiting area in A&E;
·poor provision of training to deal with work-related violence and aggression.
CQC will continue to make more unannounced visits and take further action to make sure the trust meets these conditions and addresses our concerns.
Find out more
·Read the press release: http://www.cqc.org.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases.cfm?cit_id=36365&FAArea1=customWidgets.content_view_1&usecache=false
·Find out how we monitor essential standards of quality and safety http://www.cqc.org.uk/aboutcqc/whatwedo/monitoringessentialstandardsofqualityandsafety.cfm
In relation to two conditions, the trust has made the necessary improvements within the deadlines set, and we have now removed these two conditions. The conditions outline where and when the trust needs to improve to meet essential standards of quality and safety to be registered under the new monitoring system.
The trust has taken action to meet the following conditions:
·Carry out an assessment of need, including a risk assessment and a care plan for all patients
·Complete an action plan that responds to the trust’s maternity services
The removal of the two conditions comes after a joint site visit with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The visit involved observation of care and interviews with people who use services and hospital staff. The trust must meet the remaining three conditions by July and August 2010:
·provide training in the care of acutely ill patients
·set out systems of supervision and appraisal of staff
·keep the premises safe from legionella infection
There are additional improvements that still need to be made. Inspectors have concerns about:
·the observation of patients in the waiting area in A&E;
·poor provision of training to deal with work-related violence and aggression.
CQC will continue to make more unannounced visits and take further action to make sure the trust meets these conditions and addresses our concerns.
Find out more
·Read the press release: http://www.cqc.org.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases.cfm?cit_id=36365&FAArea1=customWidgets.content_view_1&usecache=false
·Find out how we monitor essential standards of quality and safety http://www.cqc.org.uk/aboutcqc/whatwedo/monitoringessentialstandardsofqualityandsafety.cfm
Improvements at Tameside NHS Foundation Trust
We have lifted registration conditions previously imposed on Tameside NHS Foundation Trust.
We imposed the conditions on 1 April, when a tough new registration system for NHS trusts was introduced.
We required the trust to take urgent action to ensure:
- a sufficient number of qualified and experienced staff
- systems in place to manage and co-ordinate staff
To check the necessary improvements have been made, our inspectors made an unannounced visit to Tameside General Hospital on 16 June and interviewed patients, visitors and staff.
We found that the quality and safety of care, treatment and support for patients has improved since the March inspection.
However, we also identified some areas for further improvement and the trust is already taking action to ensure this work is completed. CQC will closely monitor these areas and check that this has resulted in improvements for patients.
Find out more
Read our press release: CQC lifts registration conditions on Tameside NHS
Foundation Trust:
http://www.cqc.org.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases.cfm?cit_id=36368&FAArea1=customWidgets.content_view_1&usecache=false
Download the full compliance report
http://www.cqc.org.uk/publications.cfm?fde_id=15862
We imposed the conditions on 1 April, when a tough new registration system for NHS trusts was introduced.
We required the trust to take urgent action to ensure:
- a sufficient number of qualified and experienced staff
- systems in place to manage and co-ordinate staff
To check the necessary improvements have been made, our inspectors made an unannounced visit to Tameside General Hospital on 16 June and interviewed patients, visitors and staff.
We found that the quality and safety of care, treatment and support for patients has improved since the March inspection.
However, we also identified some areas for further improvement and the trust is already taking action to ensure this work is completed. CQC will closely monitor these areas and check that this has resulted in improvements for patients.
Find out more
Read our press release: CQC lifts registration conditions on Tameside NHS
Foundation Trust:
http://www.cqc.org.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases.cfm?cit_id=36368&FAArea1=customWidgets.content_view_1&usecache=false
Download the full compliance report
http://www.cqc.org.uk/publications.cfm?fde_id=15862
Wednesday 16 June 2010
Regulator calls on Devon Partnership NHS Trust to ensure mental health services for older people are up to standard
The Care Quality Commission today (Wednesday) committed to use its new regulatory powers to ensure that older people in Devon are able to receive modern and effective mental healthcare.
In publishing the findings of a detailed investigation into older people’s mental health services, CQC says Devon Partnership NHS Trust has already made significant improvements to its services for older people.
But it says that a history of inadequate supervision of staff had allowed poor practice to continue unchallenged until 2008. The report highlights a failure to properly manage medicines, leading to medication being administered inappropriately in one unit, the Harbourne Unit in Totnes, until November 2008. The unit was closed last year.
The Care Quality Commission says it is satisfied that effective arrangements are now in place in Devon to protect the safety of patients, and that the trust is continuing to work on improvements.
The concerns about standards of care were first raised in November 2008, when a member of
staff reported poor practice on the Harbourne Unit, a ward for up to 10 people with mental health needs such as dementia.
The trust instructed its medical director to review care on the unit, looking specifically at the care of six people who died between October 2007 and November 2008.
The review did not find that poor care caused any of the deaths. However, it did find serious concerns relating to the inappropriate use of opioids, with drugs routinely used to control people’s behaviour, rather than treat their illnesses. It also found a failure of medical and nursing care, poor record-keeping and lack of care planning.
The trust informed the regulator (then the Healthcare Commission), which conducted inspections of the unit in December 2008.
The trust acted immediately to ensure the safety of patients by restricting the use of some medications and introducing closer supervision of clinical staff on the Harbourne Unit. The unit was permanently closed in July 2009.
In May 2009, at the request of the trust, the Care Quality Commission began a detailed investigation, reviewing care at all older people’s mental health units across Devon.
CQC conducted announced and unannounced inspections at nine units; investigating pharmacy arrangements and interviewing 172 current and former trust staff, as well as patients, relatives and carers. CQC also commissioned a review of case notes by external consultants.
The report concludes that the level of problems which were found on the Harbourne Unit did not exist in other units. However, it did find that units providing older people’s mental healthcare were isolated, with insufficient supervision of staff. As a result, the trust was not in a position to prevent things going wrong until a member of staff reported their concerns.
The report says that there were insufficient clinical governance arrangements to monitor safety and reduce risks in older people’s mental health services in Devon.
The Commission says the trust lacked a clear vision of the services being offered in its older people’s mental health units, with variations in standards of assessment, care and treatment. In particular there were no trust policies to manage challenging behaviour in patients with dementia or consistent systems to provide palliative and end of life care.
Amanda Sherlock, CQC’s deputy director of Operations, said: “The trust acted openly when allegations of poor care came to its attention and took prompt action to ensure the safety of its patients.
“After a thorough investigation, we found no evidence to suggest that the poor clinical practice found on the Harbourne Unit existed on the trust’s other wards.
“But it is clear that the trust should have been able to spot and address those problems earlier. Our report found that until these problems came to light, the trust appeared to have no oversight, leaving highly dedicated staff to cope without clear policies or guidance from the centre. The trust did not know whether standards of care were adequate or not.
“At an early stage of this inquiry we shared our findings with the trust, to give them the earliest opportunity to begin to make improvements. To their credit, Devon Partnership have moved swiftly to improve mental health services for older people without waiting for the publication of our report before beginning a programme of redesign and improvement.
“We will now continue to monitor that improvement through our new registration process, returning to the trust at regular intervals to ensure that this pace of improvement continues. We will use our powers to the full, if necessary, to ensure that older people in Devon receive modern and effective mental healthcare.”
Care Quality Commission inspectors have already begun work on a follow up review to establish if the trust is meeting new essential standards which came into force this year.
Under the new system of regulation, CQC registered the trust to provide services from 1 April on the condition that it took immediate action to improve its systems for the supervision and appraisal of staff.
CQC staff will now follow up that requirement and specific concerns highlighted by the report to identify whether further action needs to be taken to ensure that the trust complies with the new standards.
In publishing the findings of a detailed investigation into older people’s mental health services, CQC says Devon Partnership NHS Trust has already made significant improvements to its services for older people.
But it says that a history of inadequate supervision of staff had allowed poor practice to continue unchallenged until 2008. The report highlights a failure to properly manage medicines, leading to medication being administered inappropriately in one unit, the Harbourne Unit in Totnes, until November 2008. The unit was closed last year.
The Care Quality Commission says it is satisfied that effective arrangements are now in place in Devon to protect the safety of patients, and that the trust is continuing to work on improvements.
The concerns about standards of care were first raised in November 2008, when a member of
staff reported poor practice on the Harbourne Unit, a ward for up to 10 people with mental health needs such as dementia.
The trust instructed its medical director to review care on the unit, looking specifically at the care of six people who died between October 2007 and November 2008.
The review did not find that poor care caused any of the deaths. However, it did find serious concerns relating to the inappropriate use of opioids, with drugs routinely used to control people’s behaviour, rather than treat their illnesses. It also found a failure of medical and nursing care, poor record-keeping and lack of care planning.
The trust informed the regulator (then the Healthcare Commission), which conducted inspections of the unit in December 2008.
The trust acted immediately to ensure the safety of patients by restricting the use of some medications and introducing closer supervision of clinical staff on the Harbourne Unit. The unit was permanently closed in July 2009.
In May 2009, at the request of the trust, the Care Quality Commission began a detailed investigation, reviewing care at all older people’s mental health units across Devon.
CQC conducted announced and unannounced inspections at nine units; investigating pharmacy arrangements and interviewing 172 current and former trust staff, as well as patients, relatives and carers. CQC also commissioned a review of case notes by external consultants.
The report concludes that the level of problems which were found on the Harbourne Unit did not exist in other units. However, it did find that units providing older people’s mental healthcare were isolated, with insufficient supervision of staff. As a result, the trust was not in a position to prevent things going wrong until a member of staff reported their concerns.
The report says that there were insufficient clinical governance arrangements to monitor safety and reduce risks in older people’s mental health services in Devon.
The Commission says the trust lacked a clear vision of the services being offered in its older people’s mental health units, with variations in standards of assessment, care and treatment. In particular there were no trust policies to manage challenging behaviour in patients with dementia or consistent systems to provide palliative and end of life care.
Amanda Sherlock, CQC’s deputy director of Operations, said: “The trust acted openly when allegations of poor care came to its attention and took prompt action to ensure the safety of its patients.
“After a thorough investigation, we found no evidence to suggest that the poor clinical practice found on the Harbourne Unit existed on the trust’s other wards.
“But it is clear that the trust should have been able to spot and address those problems earlier. Our report found that until these problems came to light, the trust appeared to have no oversight, leaving highly dedicated staff to cope without clear policies or guidance from the centre. The trust did not know whether standards of care were adequate or not.
“At an early stage of this inquiry we shared our findings with the trust, to give them the earliest opportunity to begin to make improvements. To their credit, Devon Partnership have moved swiftly to improve mental health services for older people without waiting for the publication of our report before beginning a programme of redesign and improvement.
“We will now continue to monitor that improvement through our new registration process, returning to the trust at regular intervals to ensure that this pace of improvement continues. We will use our powers to the full, if necessary, to ensure that older people in Devon receive modern and effective mental healthcare.”
Care Quality Commission inspectors have already begun work on a follow up review to establish if the trust is meeting new essential standards which came into force this year.
Under the new system of regulation, CQC registered the trust to provide services from 1 April on the condition that it took immediate action to improve its systems for the supervision and appraisal of staff.
CQC staff will now follow up that requirement and specific concerns highlighted by the report to identify whether further action needs to be taken to ensure that the trust complies with the new standards.
Tuesday 15 June 2010
CQC takes action on The Causeway Retreat
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said today it has taken action to ensure that The Causeway Retreat, on Osea Island in the Blackwater Estuary, Essex, has stopped providing people with treatment for which it is not registered under the Care Standards Act 2000.
Frances Carey, CQC’s East region director, said: “We have been gathering evidence since October last year about the services provided at The Causeway Retreat and our inspectors have made visits to the island.
“We believe that The Causeway Retreat has provided services as an independent hospital, including medical treatment for people with mental health needs. Such services would legally require the establishment to be registered with CQC.
“On 26 April we wrote to those we believed were carrying on the services, asking them to discontinue those services.
“They gave us a written assurance that from 9 May all the current patients would have left the island, and that there would there be no doctors or nurses involved in providing registrable services. They also stated that from then on they would be providing only services that do not require registration, such as counselling for people recovering from drug or alcohol addiction.
“We will continue to take any necessary steps to ensure that the law is complied with, including unannounced visits.”
Ms Carey said The Causeway Retreat LLP has submitted an application to CQC to be registered as the provider of an independent hospital on Osea Island, and the commission is currently considering this application.
She went on: "We have received information in the past few days that Twenty 7 Management Ltd, which we believe to be the principal organisation involved in The Causeway Retreat, may have gone into liquidation. We are looking into this as part of our wider enquiries, which include the roles of Mr Brendan Quinn and his wife Mrs Lisa Quinn, the two directors and shareholders in Twenty 7 Management Ltd."
Frances Carey, CQC’s East region director, said: “We have been gathering evidence since October last year about the services provided at The Causeway Retreat and our inspectors have made visits to the island.
“We believe that The Causeway Retreat has provided services as an independent hospital, including medical treatment for people with mental health needs. Such services would legally require the establishment to be registered with CQC.
“On 26 April we wrote to those we believed were carrying on the services, asking them to discontinue those services.
“They gave us a written assurance that from 9 May all the current patients would have left the island, and that there would there be no doctors or nurses involved in providing registrable services. They also stated that from then on they would be providing only services that do not require registration, such as counselling for people recovering from drug or alcohol addiction.
“We will continue to take any necessary steps to ensure that the law is complied with, including unannounced visits.”
Ms Carey said The Causeway Retreat LLP has submitted an application to CQC to be registered as the provider of an independent hospital on Osea Island, and the commission is currently considering this application.
She went on: "We have received information in the past few days that Twenty 7 Management Ltd, which we believe to be the principal organisation involved in The Causeway Retreat, may have gone into liquidation. We are looking into this as part of our wider enquiries, which include the roles of Mr Brendan Quinn and his wife Mrs Lisa Quinn, the two directors and shareholders in Twenty 7 Management Ltd."
Thursday 10 June 2010
New report reveals improved services at Birmingham Children’s Hospital
Download the report
http://www.cqc.org.uk/publications.cfm?fde_id=15807
In March 2009, the former regulator, the Healthcare Commission, reviewed the services provided at Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It found that the trust was struggling to cope with rising patient demands, resulting in delayed treatments, less than optimum care and patients being redirected to other services.
A new report published today shows that the trust has now made significant improvements in some areas of specialist care. It has:
- minimised patient waiting times
- purchased more specialist equipment
- recruited and trained additional staff
- created and improved management systems
- established clearer management structures
CQC will continue to monitor the trust to ensure that it implements further improvements in:
managing and admissions of beds patient demand, length of stay and capacity, specifically for children’s services and within operating theatres arrangements for out of hours periods working with local NHS bodies to provide the best possible specialist care for children Whilst the trust must continue to make improvements, it has not breached any standards of quality and safety.
Find out more:
Find out how we monitor essential standards of quality and safety
http://www.cqc.org.uk/aboutcqc/whatwedo/monitoringessentialstandardsofqualityandsafety.cfm
Read the press release
http://www.cqc.org.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases.cfm?cit_id=36311&FAArea1=customWidgets.content_view_1&usecache=false
Download the original review on Birmingham Children’s Hospital
http://www.cqc.org.uk/_db/_documents/Birmingham_Childrens_Hospital_NHS_Foundation_Trust_Summary_of_the_intervention.pdf
http://www.cqc.org.uk/publications.cfm?fde_id=15807
In March 2009, the former regulator, the Healthcare Commission, reviewed the services provided at Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It found that the trust was struggling to cope with rising patient demands, resulting in delayed treatments, less than optimum care and patients being redirected to other services.
A new report published today shows that the trust has now made significant improvements in some areas of specialist care. It has:
- minimised patient waiting times
- purchased more specialist equipment
- recruited and trained additional staff
- created and improved management systems
- established clearer management structures
CQC will continue to monitor the trust to ensure that it implements further improvements in:
managing and admissions of beds patient demand, length of stay and capacity, specifically for children’s services and within operating theatres arrangements for out of hours periods working with local NHS bodies to provide the best possible specialist care for children Whilst the trust must continue to make improvements, it has not breached any standards of quality and safety.
Find out more:
Find out how we monitor essential standards of quality and safety
http://www.cqc.org.uk/aboutcqc/whatwedo/monitoringessentialstandardsofqualityandsafety.cfm
Read the press release
http://www.cqc.org.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases.cfm?cit_id=36311&FAArea1=customWidgets.content_view_1&usecache=false
Download the original review on Birmingham Children’s Hospital
http://www.cqc.org.uk/_db/_documents/Birmingham_Childrens_Hospital_NHS_Foundation_Trust_Summary_of_the_intervention.pdf
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