Community health services operated by Newham Council for children and young people up to the age of 19 and their families are safe, caring, effective and well-led, according to inspectors from the Care Quality Commission.
In a report published today (24 April) they give an overall rating of Good for a range of services offered by health visiting, school health, and family nurse partnership teams. Collectively the teams support parents, babies, children, young people, first-time mothers aged under 19, children up the age of five with disabilities, and children requiring early help and additional safeguarding. Specialist health visitors also offer perinatal mental health services.
Practitioners from the service deliver care and treatment to children and young people in their own home, in schools, in health centres and in children’s centres.
The CQC inspectors visited the Council over two days in January 2019. Areas of good practice identified were safeguarding processes which protected children and young people from harm with good multi-agency working; competent staff with the rights skills to do their jobs; and equipment for use by school health nurses and health visitors was readily available and safety checked.
Other areas singled out for praise were comprehensive risk assessments and care plans; health visiting and school nursing teams who were described by parents and carers as kind and caring; collaborative working relationships with other professionals; and service provision that was targeted to the needs of individuals, particularly those who are vulnerable.
The report judges services on five questions and then offers an overall rating. Newham was judged as:
| Are services safe? | Good |
|---|---|
| Are services caring? | Good |
| Are services effective? | Good |
| Are services responsive? | Good |
| Are services well-led? | Good |
| Overall rating | Good |
The CQC inspectors received feedback from Newham families that was consistently positive about the “respectful, caring, kind and compassionate” approach from staff. Service users said they felt they could raise concerns when necessary and felt listened to.
There were some areas for improvement identified by the report, including the need for formalised guidance on escalating complex safeguarding concerns, having systems to report key performance indicators, and staff compliance with infection control best practice guidance.
Councillor Sarah Ruiz, Cabinet member for children’s social care said: “This report is testament to the hard work of dedicated staff. There are some areas that we have to improve on and we will work on these to make what we do even better. We have a clear vision to put children, young people, and their families at the heart of everything we do and become the most child-friendly borough in the country.”
Councillor Carleene Lee-Phakoe, Assistant Cabinet member for children’s social care, said: “I would like to thank our service users who took time to tell the CQC what they thought about the quality of care received. The inspectors pointed out that the feedback they received was all positive, which was really pleasing.”
The full report can be viewed here.