CQC finds improvements in Cumbria’s community health services

Published: 21 April 2017 Page last updated: 3 November 2022
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Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission have found improvements in community health services for children, young people and families provided by Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

The rating for the service has been revised from Inadequate to Good following a CQC inspection at the trust in January.

Overall the trust’s rating remains Requires Improvement.

See full reports including ratings for all of the provider’s core services.

The Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals (and lead for mental health), Dr Paul Lelliott said:

“Following our original inspection in 2015, we asked Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to make changes to improve the care in their community services for children, young people and families.

“It is clear that the trust has acted on the findings of our initial inspection and this is reflected in the improved quality of care we found this time round. We came across many examples where patient experience has improved, and services are more responsive to the needs of people using them."

Inspectors saw areas of good practice including:

  • The ‘Love Barrow Families’ initiative supports families who live in the most deprived areas of Barrow in Furness. The project was designed to improve the way adult and child health and social care services worked together to support families with complex needs.
  • Children, young people and families felt staff communicated with them effectively, kept them involved and informed about care and treatment, promoted the values of dignity and respect, and were kind and compassionate.
  • Since the previous CQC inspection in 2015, the trust had improved waiting times for children and young people in community paediatrics, audiology, learning disability nursing, and physiotherapy.

Inspectors also identified areas where the trust should make improvements:

  • The trust should ensure all nurses working in sexual health clinics who provide clinical care and treatment to children and people are trained to the appropriate level for safeguarding children.
  • The trust should ensure the school nursing service participates in health-promotion activities to support children in local schools, as defined by Public Health England in the Health Child Programme (0-19 years).
  • The trust should ensure premises are secure and clinical areas are appropriately secured to ensure members of the public do not have unrestricted access.

ENDS

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It is clear that the trust has acted on the findings of our initial inspection and this is reflected in the improved quality of care we found this time round.

Dr Paul Lelliott, Deputy Chief Inspector of Hospitals

About the Care Quality Commission

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England.

We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and we encourage care services to improve.

We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find to help people choose care.