Hospice welcome inspection

WARRINGTON’S “favourite charity” St Rocco’s Hospice has welcomed an inspection by a health watchdog describing it as “very productive.”
The Care Quality Commission inspection, which is normally routine, was brought forward following concerns over the running of the hospice, which has led to the suspension of Chief Executive John Szostek and Dr Bokhari, as reported earlier this week exclusively on warrington-worldwide.
The inspection revealed a number of concerns.
These revealed that staff had not completed ‘Adult Protection’ (safeguarding) training since 2007/2008 meaning people were not adequately safeguarded from the risks of abuse.
Adequate systems were also not in place to monitor the quality of service offered to people.
St Rocco’s did not have appropriate systems for gathering, recording and evaluating accurate information about the quality and safety of the care, treatment and support the service provided. This meant that the service provider was not able to learn from mistakes and take corrective action to ensure the well being of people who use the service.
The service also did not fully protect people against the risks associated with the unsafe management of medication.
A spokesperson for the hospice said: “The CQC set extremely high standards and as with inspections, it has highlighted some areas for us to work on.”
The areas for improvement focussed on:
*Staff training and policy arrangements in relation to Adult Safeguarding
*Medicines management and record keeping.
*Staff training and development, including supervision and appraisals.
*Clinical governance and quality reporting systems.
The spokesperson added: “We had already started to implement an action plan, which covers all the areas which the CQC identified for areas for improvement and many of the actions are complete or are already in progress.
“A new clinical governance reporting system has been implemented.
“A new ‘essentials’ training programme has been developed which is part of an ongoing rolling programme of ‘essentials’ training.
“Medicines management record keeping has been reviewed and changes have been made to ensure the system is as robust as possible.
“The report also details feedback from patients, relatives and staff, all of which is very positive and complimentary. Clearly, this demonstrates the dedication and commitment of our staff.
“The findings of the inspection have provided the hospice with the assurance that the action plan, which was already being implemented following the identification of the issue did cover all necessary actions.
“The hospice has a long standing, excellent record of providing a much needed service to the people of Warrington and we are committed to ensuring that the hospice continues to learn and develop.
The hospice is running ‘business as usual’, with the full support of staff, the trustees and partners. Patients will continue to receive excellent care and the nursing staff will continue to do an excellent job.
Meanwhile an investigation into the running of the hospice, which was instigated with the full support of the hospice board following the identification of an issue, is still ongoing and therefore the hospice board will not be making any decisions around the two suspensions until this has been concluded and recommendations have been received.