Learning from CQC inspection reports: How better training and management could have prevented failures
Lorraine Hunt ??
The AI HR Lady | Helping HR professionals integrate AI to save time & focus on people, not paperwork ?? Award winning training specialist, FCIPD ?? Impactful. Immersive. Innovative.
Staying compliant and ensuring high-quality care is crucial and I do believe it all starts with training - whether that is the home care business owner, the registered manager, the nominated individual, the care co-ordinator, the office team or the carers, and everyone else in between.
Recently, I delved into another CQC inspection report for a home care provider rated as inadequate.
By learning from these findings, I hope you can avoid similar pitfalls and enhance your own services.
I've just developed a learning diagnostics tool, that is helping me with my learning and development audits. It's growing some legs so who knows where it will end up but in the meantime, I hope you find this useful.
You can head on over to Youtube and watch the video which goes into a bit more detail, in a slightly different way.
Key takeaways for home care providers (and probably others too!)
Ensure a supportive culture
This provider failed to support maximum choice and control for clients. Staff didn’t always support clients in the least restrictive way, and policies didn’t measure quality and safety.
Action: Implement robust policies and systems that support client autonomy and regularly measure quality and safety. Train staff to understand and apply these policies and procedures consistently - not just learn where to find them!
Effective medication management
The provider’s medication management was inadequate, especially for "as required" medications.
Action: Establish strict medication management protocols and provide comprehensive training for all staff. Regular audits and competency assessments are crucial to ensure protocols are followed correctly.
That way, care providers will not be adding to the statistics of 237 million reported medication errors a year.
Enhance safeguarding protocols
Safeguarding concerns, including restraint, were not robustly identified, reported, or acted on.
Action: Strengthen safeguarding protocols and train staff to identify and act on concerns. Regularly update these protocols and ensure all staff, including managers, are well-versed in what to look for and what to do if they suspect something.
Improve infection control
Poor hand hygiene practices were noted in the report, as were other infection prevent and control issues.
Action: Enhance infection control training and monitoring. Ensure all staff understand and follow proper hygiene protocols consistently.
Recruit and retain permanent staff
High turnover led to reliance on inadequately trained agency staff.
Action: Focus on recruiting and retaining permanent staff. Offer competitive benefits and development opportunities to reduce turnover. If using agency staff, ensure they are adequately trained and their competencies have been assessed before letting them lose on your vulnerable clients.
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Regularly update care plans
Care plans were outdated or lacked crucial information. These should be reviewed at least annually or when there is a change.
Action: Regularly review and update care plans to ensure they reflect current client needs. Involve clients and their families in the planning process, and teach your carers to report back to you any changes or inconsistencies between the care plans and what is actually happening during the visit itself.
Comprehensive training programmes (Well, I would say that, right?)
Staff lacked essential skills and knowledge, including understanding the Mental Capacity Act and its practical application.
Action: Develop comprehensive, ongoing training programmes that include competency assessments. Provide robust training on the MCA for this registered manager in particular.
Monitor nutrition and hydration
Nutritional needs were not consistently met, and records of food and fluid intake were incomplete.
Action: Implement systems to monitor and record nutrition and hydration accurately. Train staff to understand the importance of these records and how to maintain them.
Personalise care and improve communication
Care was not tailored to individual needs, family members were not involved and there was a lack of meaningful activities for clients.
Action: Personalise care plans to reflect individual preferences and needs. Ensure communication needs are understood and met. Introduce meaningful activities to engage service users and prevent frustration.
Strengthen leadership and governance (goes without saying really but yeah, its still widespread)
Weak leadership and poor governance were significant issues.
Action: Strengthen leadership by making managers more visible and approachable. Implement effective quality assurance systems to regularly monitor and improve service quality. Foster a culture of learning and improvement.
Boost staff morale (they are more than numbers you know)
Low staff morale was due to poor management and lack of support.
Action: Improve staff support and development opportunities to boost morale. Ensure management is supportive and promotes a positive, inclusive culture. Dig deep, put your big girl (or boy) pants on and find out EXACTLY what your staff teams think, then get to change it. Easier said than done but get a plan together.
Develop robust quality assurance systems
The provider lacked effective quality assurance processes.
Action: Implement robust quality assurance systems that include regular audits and feedback mechanisms. Ensure issues are promptly identified and addressed. Then remember to evidence it!
Summary for other care providers they could learn from this inspection report
So, I am now off my soap box. Do you have any comments to make?
Linkedin's Qualification Snob! - Possibly the best AET Training on the planet - Do you dare take my training ability test and see how you score as a trainer?? ?? ?? ??
8 个月And agaaaaaain I say we'll if there were standards trainers had to adhere to and criteria to meet it'd be a start, as would requirements for trainers to have a training qualification. Other sectors are far stricter on this and this is care!!!