Three core services at London trust rated Good by CQC

Three core services at North East London NHS Foundation Trust have been rated Good overall by the Care Quality Commission.

Community health services for adults, for children, young people and families and end of life care were all rated Good overall following inspections in October 2017. These services are provided in North East London and across Essex. They include services such as district nursing, palliative care teams, health visiting and school nurses.

Community health services for adults

Services for adults were rated Good for being effective, caring, responsive, well-led and Requires Improvement for being safe.

CQC inspectors found that work by the dedicated harm free care team had led to reduced falls and pressure ulcers.

Staff recruitment remained a significant challenge for the trust. However, some

teams had restructured to enable staff to better manage workloads.

Inspectors observed staff treated patients with care, compassion and kindness. There was a consistent focus on adapting services to meet the needs of local people.

However, the trust must ensure staff have access to regular supervision, including clinical supervision and an appraisal.

Community health services for children, young people and families

Community health services for children young people and families were rated Good in all categories CQC inspect: safe; effective; caring; responsive and well-led.

Staff supported the patients and families they worked with and provided patient-centred support in clinics and in peoples own homes. The trust actively sought feedback from people using the service to improve services.

People using the trust’s community services were treated with dignity and respect. People felt listened to by health professionals, well informed and involved in their treatment and plans of care.

There was very good compliance with the trust's child safeguarding training and comprehensive safeguarding supervision processes in place.

End of life care

End of life care (EOLC) was rated Good for being safe, effective, caring and well-led. It was rated Requires Improvement for being responsive.

There had been a restructure in EOLC at the trust. This meant most specialist palliative care was outsourced and provided by hospice staff. District nurses worked in integrated community teams and were responsible for providing treatment and support to palliative and EOLC patients in the community.

Staff demonstrated compassionate care to patients and their families. Inspectors observed a commitment to providing care that was focused on meeting the emotional, spiritual and psychological needs of patients as well as their physical needs.

There was a visible person-centred culture. Staff were highly motivated to offer care that was kind and promoted people’s dignity. Relationships between people who used the service, those close to them and staff were caring and supportive. These relationships were valued by people and their families.

CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector (Mental Health), Paul Lelliott, said:

“We found a good standard of care throughout the three core services we inspected at North East London NHS Foundation Trust."

“It was particularly pleasing to see that the trust was rated Good in all categories CQC inspects for community health services for children, young people and families."

“I look forward to NELFT producing even better results in future inspections.”

You can read the reports in full on our website.

Ends

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