Agenda item

Consideration was given to the latest quarterly summary regarding Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections for services operating within the Borough (Appendix 1).  Seven inspection reports were published during this period (October to December 2024 (inclusive)), with attention drawn to the following Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) contracted providers:

Providers rated ‘Good’ overall (3)

·         Cherry Tree Care Centre had been upgraded to ‘Good’ overall (rated ‘Good’ across all five domains) from its previous ‘Requires Improvement’ judgement in January 2023, though it was noted that the service continued to receive supportive monitoring from the SBC Quality Assurance and Compliance (QuAC) Team as a result of their most recent PAMMS assessment rating and their ongoing Action Plan.

Similarly, Willow View Care Home had been upgraded to ‘Good’ overall (rated ‘Good’ across all five domains) from its previous ‘Requires Improvement’ judgement in March 2024 (which included ‘Inadequate’ in the ‘Safe’ domain).  This service had been under scrutiny for some time and had received significant support from SBC – much of the improvement could be attributed to stable management.

·         The Old Vicarage was deemed ‘Good’ overall (rated ‘Good’ across all five domains) following the first inspection of this learning disability-focused service.

With reference to the final paragraph within the ‘Supporting Evidence and Supplementary Information’ section, the Committee sought clarity on The Old Vicarage’s use of ‘creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome, and quality of life for people’ and encouraged this to be promoted and shared with other providers.  Further information would be shared after this meeting.

Providers rated ‘Requires Improvement’ overall (1)

·         Ingleby Care Home had been downgraded to ‘Requires Improvement’ overall (rated ‘Requires Improvement’ in all domains bar ‘Well-Led’ which was deemed ‘Inadequate’) from its previous ‘Good’ judgement in August 2018 (which included ‘Outstanding’ in the ‘Caring’ domain).  Four breaches had been identified by the CQC involving shortcomings in person-centred care, safe care and treatment, good governance, and duty of candour.  The home had been subject to the Responding to and Addressing Serious Concerns (RASC) protocol since 1 August 2024 (though had recently come out of this in mid-January 2025) and was due a PAMMS inspection in the near future.

The Committee expressed concerns around Ingleby Care Home’s medication practices – a theme which continued to emerge following inspections of the Borough’s providers.  The SBC QuAC Manager acknowledged the repeated medication issues raised by Members, though also emphasised the importance of stable management which was critical to the success of any service.  Noting the ‘Inadequate’ rating in the ‘Well-Led’ domain, the Committee observed that the service was yet to participate in the Council’s Well-Led Programme and asked if this was being pursued – officers would seek further details from the SBC Transformation Team following this meeting.

The remaining three reports were in relation to non-contracted providers.  Homecare agency, AAA Homecare Limited – Teesside received an overall rating of ‘Good’ (with all domains graded ‘Good’) in what was its first rated inspection, whilst another homecare agency, The Robert Atkinson Centre was upgraded to ‘Good’ overall (with all domains ‘Good’) from its previous ‘Requires Improvement’ judgement in May 2023.  The final report related to the dentistry service, Lanehouse Road Dental Surgery where the CQC deemed that all regulations were being met.

Focus turned to the section on Provider Assessment and Market Management Solutions (PAMMS) inspections (Appendix 2), of which there were four reports published during this period (October to December 2024 (inclusive)):

·         One service, Park House Rest Home, maintained its overall rating of ‘Excellent’, with all domains remaining the same as its previously published outcome in January 2020 apart from ‘Suitability of Staffing’ which had been upgraded from ‘Good’ to ‘Excellent’.

·         The remaining three reports saw Piper Court, Primrose Court Nursing Home, and Chestnut Lodge Nursing Home all maintain an overall rating of ‘Good’ (with all domains remaining ‘Good’ for all three services) – a grading which all three achieved following their previous inspections.

The Committee commended all four services for demonstrating sustained positive practice since their last inspections.  Members also queried whether data was available on service capacity and whether this was factored into the PAMMS process – the SBC QuAC Manager commented that different intelligence was used to determine PAMMS outcomes, and that providers uploaded data on ‘Capacity Tracker’ in relation to resident numbers.  It was also noted that the Council was looking to include a link to the PAMMS outcome reports on the Stockton Information Directory (SID) in the future.

AGREED that the CQC / PAMMS Inspection Results – Quarterly Summary (Q3 2024-2025) report be noted and further information be provided as identified.