This focused inspection of HF Trust - Forest of Dean DCA (supported living, 4 people) found the service safe and well-led, with significant improvements made under new management since March 2022 including reduced medicines errors, stronger recruitment, and enhanced staff training. The only notable gap was inconsistent communication with some professionals and a relative, which the registered manager committed to address.
Concerns (1)
minorCommunication with families: “management team had yet to establish effective working relationships with other professionals and one relative who told us about difficulties in getting the information / action they needed or wanted.”
Strengths
· People's health and well-being risks had been assessed and were managed safely, with staff able to accurately describe risks without referring to support plans.
· Medicines errors had reduced and stayed low since June 2022 following improvements to medicines management.
· Safe recruitment practices including a 3-stage assessment process and enhanced pay to attract staff with the right skills for complex needs.
· Incidents reviewed regularly with de-brief sessions and learning shared in staff meetings to improve the service.
· Registered manager maintained strong oversight through audits, meetings and provider reporting systems, resulting in a 'huge improvement' noted by professionals.
Quality-Statement breakdown (10)
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: Duty of candour and continuous learning and improving careGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people, the public and staff, and working in partnership with othersGood