Walfinch Welwyn & Bishop's Stortford received a Good rating across all five key questions at its first CQC inspection in April 2023, with 28 people receiving personal care. The service demonstrated safe recruitment, effective medicines management, strong leadership culture and personalised care delivery, with a minor lapse in digital visit-scheduling communication swiftly addressed by management.
Concerns (2)
moderate
Missed or late visits
: “Some care visits had been missed because staff phones had not been updated. This meant they did not always see the visits allocated to them.”
minorGovernance: “Systems to underpin good communication had not always been followed and the provider's digital care planning software was not being used to its full potential.”
Strengths
· People felt safe and protected from avoidable harm; staff knew how to identify and report concerns relating to abuse.
· Medicines were managed safely with staff training and competency assessments, plus senior staff spot checks.
· Staff received thorough inductions, ongoing supervision, and competency observations.
· People received regular, consistent care from a small matched staff team, supporting familiarity and trust.
· A 24-hour on-call service was available to people, relatives and staff for emergencies.
Quality-Statement breakdown (22)
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
effective: Assessing people's needs and choices; delivering care in line with standards, guidance and the lawGood
effective: Staff support: induction, training, skills and experienceGood
effective: Staff working with other agencies to provide consistent, effective, timely careGood
effective: Ensuring consent to care and treatment in line with law and guidanceGood
caring: Ensuring people are well treated and supported; respecting equality and diversityGood
caring: Supporting people to express their views and be involved in making decisions about their careGood
caring: Respecting and promoting people's privacy, dignity and independenceGood
responsive: Planning personalised care to ensure people have choice and control and to meet their needs and preferencesGood
responsive: Meeting people's communication needsGood
responsive: Supporting people to develop and maintain relationships to avoid social isolationGood
responsive: Improving care quality in response to complaints or concernsGood
responsive: End of life care and supportGood
well-led: How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candour; managers and staff being clear about their rolesGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staffGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving care; working in partnership with othersGood