CQC demands residential college improves care standards

A number of Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors visited Treloar College near Alton in Hampshire throughout May, June and July 2011 as part of the registration and compliance assessment process. They found that the college was failing to meet nine essential standards of quality and safety.

Treloar College is a term time residential further education establishment providing care for up to 163 students with physical and learning disabilities.

The CQC found that Treloar College was not meeting nine essential standards of care and had major concerns in five areas.

Care and welfare

Inspectors found that students’ care plans did not include all of their needs. They also found that the lack of communication between different care staff around the college meant that the students' care needs were not co-ordinated or kept up to date.

Safeguarding people

Inspectors had concerns that staff were not taking all reasonable steps to protect these vulnerable young adults. They found that staff had not always followed college procedures appropriately, and some incidents had not been reported correctly or in a timely manner. As a result, this placed students at Treloar College at considerable risk of harm to their health and welfare. Students were not adequately protected because the college failed to report and respond appropriately to allegations or concerns.

Management of medicine

Inspectors found gaps in medication records, medicines given with no guidance as to when or how to give them properly and medicines that were not labelled correctly. Some staff supporting students to take medicines had not received training in the safe use of medicines. The College failed to protect people who use the service against the risks associated with the unsafe use and management of medication.

Assessing and monitoring the quality of service

Inspectors found that students were not protected against the risk of inappropriate or unsafe care because the system for regularly assessing and monitoring the quality of the service did not identify inadequate practice. The staff responsible had not taken the actions to address any failures until outside agencies brought these to their attention. Inspectors found that the college had not identified risks relating to the health, welfare and safety of the students.

Notification of other incidents

Inspectors found that CQC was not always notified of events or incidents without delay. This meant that students could not be confident that important events that affect their welfare were reported to us. Delays to notifications can mean that the Commission cannot take urgent action if required.

CQC Regional Director for the South East, Roxy Boyce, said: “The care at Treloar College has fallen far short of the standards students at the college have a right to expect.

“The law says these are the standards that everyone should be able to expect when they receive care. Providers have a duty to ensure they are compliant – or face the consequences. We have given Treloar College 14 days in which to respond and to tell us the action they will take to improve.

“The onus is now on Treloar College to resolve these issues as soon as possible in order to protect the students and provide the right level of care. If they fail to do so, we have a range of enforcement powers we can use to ensure that standards are met.”