At the beginning of January we were inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to rate the quality of the services provided at the Ernest Gardiner Treatment Centre.
For those that don’t know, the Ernest Gardiner Treatment Centre is a charitable service, funded and managed by the Heritage Foundation to provide nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy to the community.
A CQC inspection assesses the services provided by healthcare to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. When inspecting a healthcare service, there are five key questions that are being asked:
- Are they safe?
- Are they effective?
- Are they caring?
- Are they responsive to people’s needs
- Are they well-led?
While it’s always a little daunting to be watched and assessed while you carry out your daily duties, I’m pleased to say that the CQC report is very positive and has recognised the good practices undertaken at the centre. It was pleasing for staff to see the report recognising that:
‘The care and treatment provided was patient centred’
‘Staff took time to interact with patients, were respectful and considerate’
‘Feedback about the service was listened to and there was a positive culture and good leadership’
Other areas of the report that we should be proud of is the CQC recognising the ‘Services provided reflected the needs of the population served’ that ‘A free transport service was provided to patients who required transport to the treatment centre’ and ‘Patients were seen promptly’
We liaise closely with GPs and health partners to ensure a consistent quality of care is provided and that regular intervention opportunities are acted on.
While we are naturally delighted with the feedback in the report, through the inspection we recognise there are areas we can make even better. To achieve this we will be developing an action plan which will outline how this will be achieved to ensure we continue to offer a high quality service to local residents.
Find out more about the Treatment Centre.
