CEO Blog: Mixed emotions at CQC report

12 January 2023 | Adam Dodd, Minstead Trust Chief Executive

Receiving the Care Quality Commission (CQC) report which rated our residential care service as “requires improvement”, and slipping from our prior rating of Good with Outstanding features, brings mixed emotions.

It’s of course hugely disappointing to find that in a relatively few specific areas, our adherence to some basic procedures has let us down, when we know that overall our service quality is highly valued by residents, staff and families.

However I also know this feedback is vital to us, so that we can take immediate action to ensure that our residents receive the quality of service they deserve. In this case we are  addressing procedures to ensure that the one mistake in counting and recording medication would be picked up in future, we are exploring measures to get on top of the refrigerator temperature control, and have scheduled building maintenance jobs to address some small areas of the home that were below standard.

We recognise that there are areas we can do better and we are committed to doing so. But I also believe that there is an awful lot that we are doing right and the detail of the CQC report reflects that too.

This is not an easy time to be providing care for some of the most vulnerable people in our society, but it has never been more important. As CEO, the main challenges I see are the increasing  difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff in the care sector, funding remaining well below the levels required, and bureaucratic and lengthy procedures for seeking approval for improvements to our listed building.

We have known for some time that a new home for our residents is much-needed. That is why we, together with a sympathetic charity and with the help of other supporters, made a £1.2m investment a year ago to purchase and renovate a care home for our residents nearby. Unfortunately we have not received the necessary approvals from CQC yet to make the move, so the home lies empty, awaiting their decision. The residents and their families are eager for the relocation to take place and fully back the decision to move, so we hope the approval from CQC will arrive in the coming months.

It is of course human nature to dwell disproportionately on the negatives from this latest report. In this case, doing so would mean we overlook the fact that the regulator confirms in the same report that we have achieved the pinnacle of our calling – truly person-centred care, within which people are living fulfilling lives of their choosing.

The response we have received from the residents’ families since the report was published has been so heartening, offering us their backing and reiterating their belief in the positive impact we are making for their family member.

As CQC themselves report, “[s]upport focused on people’s quality of life outcomes and met best practice…focused on people making choices and being able to lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.” It would be very easy, in light of reports of human error and process failures, to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

But this is not the right reaction.

What we have done, and will continue to do, is to listen, reflect, absorb, accept, and respond positively with our best work. With the inception of our new organisational values last year, we are committed to learning and improvement. Sometimes the frank feedback of a trusted partner will be unpleasant and even painful. That is precisely the feedback we most need to hear. It causes us to re-evaluate our decision-making, our processes, and our culture in pursuit of outstanding social care, regardless of the barriers and constraints.

I believe wholeheartedly that the team of people who serve our residents demonstrate exemplary care on a daily basis. The full CQC report supports this view. We will not forget this as we work to ensure that the basics are also consistently correct.

This inspection means that we will emerge stronger, whilst retaining the excellence in person-centred care that is so difficult to achieve, and which the staff of Minstead Trust’s residential service manage daily despite the myriad challenges facing the sector.

If you have any comments or concerns please contact me.