"My impressions and the CQC Visit"

Happy New Year Herncliffe’. (A reflection of months past)

My Mother has been a resident now for just over six months after spending 20 years in another setting, so this has been her 21st Christmas in care. On my second visit prior to Mother’s arrival in June it was the first day of the unannounced Inspection; I met the CQC ‘Expert by Experience’ quite by chance passing the residents lounge. They asked if I had time to meet with them and we spent some time discussing various aspects of the setting. I was able to tell them that I had visited my Mother constantly during her previous time in care and felt able to judge the quality of care offered in any setting very quickly. I told them that my first impressions were of a very welcoming and well run home and that you could tell this as soon as you walked in to the reception area. On my first unannounced visit I was told that I would have to wait for the Manager as she was on her rounds visiting all areas of the home which she did on a daily basis. I was then able to join her when she met residents in the informal lounge areas.

Someone had recommended Herncliffe to me as an ideal place to meet my Mother’s needs. After a short time watching the interaction between the Manager, Care staff and Residents in an environment which was cheerful, clean, caring and efficiently run I knew that my Mother would be in safe hands. This was my parting comment to the Inspector.

The nearest I can get to describing my first impression at this time is:

‘Florence Nightingale in a Five Star Hotel’.

I was somewhat surprised therefore to read the CQC report (Sept 17) which rated the Service provided as ‘Requiring Improvement overall’ with only 2 of the 5 criteria (The Service was caring and responsive.) rated as Good.  From a relative’s point of view it is hard to see how some judgements were arrived at. CQC considers that the Service ‘Requires improvement’ in issues relating to ‘safety’, ‘effectiveness’ and ‘leadership’. Reading the full report it was evident that a strategy, and in some cases a timetable to deal with issues was already in place.  In particular it is hard to see how ‘Leadership’ could be improved as there is an effective management structure in place involving: The Owners, Registered Manager , Deputy Manager, Unit Managers , Clinical Practitioners and Senior Care Assistants providing effective delegated responsibility with daily managerial oversight.  

A new ‘advisory category’ for some criteria entitled ‘Requiring some attention’ with identification of issues still to be addressed could be more appropriate. The current ratings for this service are misleading from a user’s point of view: 

For anyone considering sending a loved one to Herncliffe you need to have confidence in the views and opinions of the relatives and practitioners who visit on a regular basis – As a balance the CQC report also states:

‘Everyone we spoke to told us that they would recommend the home’.

‘We found people who lived at the home, relatives and staff had a lot of confidence in the management team’.

In conclusion the CQC report also highlights the Home’s Ethos based round the six ‘C’s’: Commitment, Compassion, Competence, Communication, Courage and Care.         

Herncliffe has all of this in Cartloads -so ‘Come with Confidence’!

A son of a resident, based on experience of over 6,000 visits to care settings.