CQC Report Staffing Levels and Quality of Staff Key to Providing Good Services

The CQC has published its latest report, exploring how adult social care services awarded 'inadequate' ratings have turned their services around.

‘Driving Improvement’concludes that the recruitment and retention of capable, valued and supported staff has never been more critical to achieving the high-quality care everyone has a right to expect.

The report focuses on the work of nine adult social care services and provides an honest insight from a wide range of people – including those who use services, their families and carers, staff, managers, directors, chief executives and other professionals – describing how it felt to be rated as inadequate, what impact this had, the challenges they had to overcome and how they got back on  track.

Key Themes

Leadership
The value of a good leader cannot be underestimated. In most of the case studies, a new manager had come into the service to deliver the improvements. They engaged with staff, people who use services and their families and were open to suggestions, but set parameters and took tough decisions where necessary.

Cultural change
Failing organisations tended to have cultures in which staff were afraid to speak out. Involving staff is one of the best ways to drive improvement.

Person-centred care
Typically, when a new manager took up the reins, they wanted to see care plans. In most cases these were lacking in detail and did not show that the care being provided was person-centred. It is not possible to provide good care if the care staff do not understand the needs of the person being cared for.

Staffing
The report concluded that the recruitment and retention of capable, valued and supported staff has never been more critical to achieving the high-quality care everyone has a right to expect.

Working with partners
Most of the services featured received support to help them improve – mainly from the corporate provider, if there was one, or commissioning bodies.

Commenting on the publication, Andrea Sutcliffe, CQC’s Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care, said: “As the independent quality regulator, we know the devastating impact inadequate adult social care has on people, their families and carers. That’s why it’s vital that the people in charge of providing care tackle the problems our inspections identify so improvement can be achieved. Our Driving Improvement publication shares the experiences of those who have been able to transform the care they deliver to explain how that journey of improvement can happen. My hope is that people running or working in care services rated as inadequate or requires improvement can use these case studies as practical guidance to improve for the benefit of the people they support and care for.

“Key lessons we have seen from the case studies include understanding and accepting that problems exist; creating a clear vision to improve and putting that into action; appointing strong leaders who can establish an open and transparent culture where improvement can truly thrive; and focusing on developing a workforce that is valued, well trained and supported to deliver safe, effective person-centred care.

“But we’re not saying that improvement is easy. Pressure on resources, increasing demands and workforce shortages mean these are challenging times for adult social care. Providers and their staff have a responsibility to deliver good care – but commissioners, funders and national bodies and the health and care system as a whole has a responsibility to work together to help create the environment that makes this possible.”