The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told leaders at Barnsley
Hospice that they must make further improvements to the quality
of services following an inspection in January.
CQC previously inspected the hospice last year, when it was rated
inadequate overall and placed in special measures. Urgent
conditions were also imposed on the provider’s registration
highlighting necessary improvements to ensure patients were safe.
During this latest inspection, CQC found Barnsley Hospice had
made some improvements, but there remained significant concerns.
The overall rating therefore remains inadequate and the hospice
is still placed in special measures.
Ratings for being safe and well-led also remain rated as
inadequate, being effective remains rated as requires improvement
and caring remains rated as good. Being responsive has improved
from inadequate to requires improvement.
Sarah Dronsfield, CQC’s head of hospital inspection,
said:
“It’s concerning that, despite issuing urgent conditions on the
provider’s registration to ensure the leadership team brought
about immediate and urgent improvements, there were still some
breaches which hadn’t been addressed since our last
inspection.
“These breaches include ensuring incidents are properly reported
and investigated, and that learning is shared to prevent similar
incidents occurring. The service must also ensure effective
systems are in place to manage risks to patients.
“We’ll continue to monitor the service closely and will return to
inspect to see what improvements have been made. At that point,
if we’re not satisfied sufficient changes have been made and
embedded, we won’t hesitate to take further enforcement action to
keep people safe.”
At this inspection inspectors found:
- Staff did not have training in key skills and did not manage
safety well.
- The service did not always control infection risk well and
while staff assessed risks to patients, they did not always act
on them.
- Safety incidents were not always managed well, and staff did
not learn lessons from them.
- The provider did not ensure staff understood their
responsibilities when obtaining appropriate consent. Staff did
not always gain consent from patients for their care and
treatment in line with legislation and guidance.
- Systems were not in always in place to make sure risk was
identified and managed.
- Previously services were not designed to support patients
with mental health or learning difficulties. At this inspection
these patients were still not included in any service strategies
or developments. In addition, the hospice did not have clear
admission criteria, which could result in the exclusion of
specific patient groups.
However:
- The service had enough staff to keep patients safe and
medicines were managed well.
- Patient feedback was generally positive.
- Staff felt valued and praised the new leadership team
following the departure of several senior staff, this had
improved from the last inspection.
- The new leadership team demonstrated a genuine willingness to
learn, improve and build a sustainable quality service for the
future.
The inspection report will be published on CQC’s website on
Wednesday 1 June.
Notes to Editors
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the CQC’s regulatory role has
not changed. CQC’s core purpose of keeping people safe is always
driving decisions about when and where we inspect. As the risks
from the pandemic change, we are evolving how we regulate
services to reflect what we have learnt during this time. You can
read more about our current approach on our website.
CQC is listening to what people are saying about services to help
detect any changes in care. If there is evidence people are at
immediate risk of harm, CQC can and will take action to ensure
that people are being kept safe.
CQC encourages people to give feedback as part of its 'Because we all care'
campaign, and people can give feedback about their care to CQC
via the details below.
