Agenda item

Consideration was given to the latest quarterly summary regarding Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections for services operating within the Borough (Appendix 1).  10 inspection reports were published during this period (April to June 2023 (inclusive)), with attention drawn to the following:

Providers rated ‘Good’ overall (6)

• South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (STHFT) had been upgraded from a previous overall rating of ‘Requires Improvement’.

• Dale Care – Stockton Home Care, The Poplars Care Home, Hadrian Park and Saxon Lodge had maintained their grading following a previous overall rating of ‘Good’.

• Stockton-on-Tees Shared Lived Scheme had not been previously inspected.

Providers rated ‘Requires Improvement’ overall (3)

• PIPS (Positive Individual Proactive Support) Office (based in Middlesbrough but which provided services within Stockton-on-Tees) had breaches in relation to safe care / treatment and good governance regulations which led to the service being downgraded from their previous overall rating of ‘Good’.

• The Robert Atkinson Centre had breaches in relation to good governance and fit / proper persons employed regulations which led to the service being downgraded from the previous overall rating of ‘Good’.

• Partners4Care Limited had breaches in relation to good governance regulations which led to the service being downgraded from the previous overall rating of ‘Good’.

The remaining report was in relation to The Dental Healthcare Centre and Cleveland Cosmetic and Dental Implant Clinic. The CQC inspects but does not rate dentists, and this report identified enforcement action around the ‘Well-Led’ domain to ensure good governance and only fit / proper persons were employed.  It was subsequently stated that the service had since closed (though this did not seem to be acknowledged on the CQC website).

It was noted that two of the three services receiving a ‘Requires Improvement’ rating during this quarter were Care at Home providers, a sector which the Committee had extensively reviewed during the 2022-2023 municipal year.  An update on the agreed actions in relation to the Committee’s final report recommendations was due in early-2024.

Members raised a number of questions around the content of this latest quarterly update. Firstly, it was queried when the CQC would start inspecting the ‘Effective’, ‘Caring’ and ‘Responsive’ domains on a more regular basis.  Regarding The Robert Atkinson Centre report, the Committee wondered if the required post-inspection Action Plan had been received by the CQC and whether it was robust enough to improve quality and safety standards.  Finally, whilst the CQC had upgraded STHFT to ‘Good’, it also told it to take action to bring services into line with 10 legal requirements (related to emergency and urgent care services, medical care, surgery and critical care, as well as some Trust-wide requirements) – as such, since the Trust was not meeting legal requirements, how could it be deemed ‘Good’?  These queries would be relayed to the CQC.

The section on Provider Assessment and Market Management Solutions (PAMMS) inspections (Appendix 2) was noted – there were no reports published during this period (April to June 2023 (inclusive)).  However, a copy of a report which should have been included within the previous quarterly update (considered at the last Committee meeting in July 2023) was tabled for information – this was in relation to Primrose Court Nursing Home which had maintained its ‘Good’ overall rating since the previous inspection which was published in October 2021.

Further to a Committee query raised during consideration of the last quarterly report (Q4 2022-2023) in July 2023, local CQC representatives were approached in relation to clarity around the re-inspection criteria should a provider receive an overall rating of ‘Requires Improvement’ or ‘Inadequate’.  It was since confirmed by the CQC that internal work was ongoing with regards to prioritising inspections and the introduction of the Single Assessment Framework and their new ways of working, and that the CQCs approach to inspection remained risk informed.

AGREED that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) Inspection Results – Quarterly Summary (Q1 2023-2024) report be noted and requests for further information be submitted to the CQC.