The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has rated St Luke's Hospice Kenton Grange Hospice Harrow & Brent in Kenton Grange, Harrow, inadequate and placed it in special measures.
CQC carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection at St Luke's Hospice Kenton Grange Hospice Harrow & Brent, run by St. Luke's Hospice (Harrow & Brent) Ltd, in October.
Due to the issues found, the hospice has been issued with two warning notices relating to the safe care and treatment of patients and the overall management of the service.
Following the inspection, St Luke's Hospice was rated inadequate for being safe and well-led, requires improvement for being effective and good for being caring and responsive. Overall, it has been rated as inadequate and has been placed into special measures. At the last inspection it was rated good overall.
Nicola Wise, CQC’s head of hospital inspection, said:
“When we inspected St Luke's Hospice Kenton Grange Hospice Harrow & Brent, we were not given sufficient assurance that patients were receiving the safe care and treatment they deserve.
“We found that leaders didn’t ensure staff kept up to date with all the necessary training to keep patients safe. People’s medicines weren’t being managed properly which meant mistakes could easily be made, and people weren’t always having their pain assessments regularly documented. We also found that patient records were not always individualised, and some areas of the premises were not clean.
“We have issued two warning notices to the hospice to help the provider focus on the improvements that need to be made. We will continue to monitor the service closely and return in the next six months to check on progress.”
Inspectors found:
- Staff did not always keep equipment and the premises visibly clean
- The design, maintenance and use of facilities, premises and equipment did not always keep people safe
- Medicines weren’t managed safely, which may put people at risk of medication errors, which may in turn harm them
- Leaders did not always identify and raise risks and issues or look at ways to reduce their impact.
However:
- Staff provided emotional support to patients, families and carers to minimise their distress
- Staff supported and involved patients, families and carers to understand their condition and make decisions about their care and treatment.
Full details of the inspection are given in the report published on our website.
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