Verity Healthcare – Waltham Forest improved from Inadequate to Requires Improvement overall, exiting Special Measures, with Good ratings in Safe, Caring and Responsive, but ongoing regulatory breaches in staff training (Regulation 18) and governance (Regulation 17) undermined the Effective and Well-led ratings.
Concerns (5)
critical
Staff training
: “Staff are not always provided with suitable training to meet people's needs. This is a breach of regulation 18(2) (Staffing) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008.”
criticalStaff competency: “The provider and registered manager were unable to demonstrate that a director...had appropriate current training and was sufficiently competent for this role.”
criticalGovernance: “Systems to oversee the quality of staff training were not effective in identifying concerns...a continued breach of regulation 17.”
moderateRecord keeping: “Records related to people's care were held across different phone apps and written records and it was difficult to be certain if staff were always guided about where to find all the information.”
moderateCare planning: “One risk assessment for a health condition which included guidance for staff to administer a rescue medicine they were not prescribed.”
Strengths
· People told us they felt safe using the service and received their care and support from the same consistent care worker or small group of care workers.
· Safe recruitment practices were followed and there were sufficient numbers of staff to meet people's needs with no missed calls recorded.
· Medicines administration records were completed clearly and regular audits were conducted to identify errors.
· People received kind and compassionate care; staff understood and respected people's individual needs, lifestyles, cultural and religious preferences.
· People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.
Quality-Statement breakdown (22)
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceRequires improvement
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Supporting people to eat and drink enough to maintain a balanced dietGood
effective: Staff working with other agencies to provide consistent, effective, timely careGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversityGood
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
responsive: Planning personalised care to ensure people have choice and control and to meet their needs and preferencesGood
responsive: Meeting people's communication needsGood
responsive: Supporting people to develop and maintain relationships to avoid social isolationGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving careRequires improvement
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringRequires improvement
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candourGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staffGood