‘Good’ rating for children’s health visitors and nurses in Lincolnshire

Services provided by Lincolnshire County Council health visitors and nurses for children and young people have been given an official rating of ‘Good’.
Coun Patricia Bradwell, of Lincolnshire County Council.Coun Patricia Bradwell, of Lincolnshire County Council.
Coun Patricia Bradwell, of Lincolnshire County Council.

This follows a review and report by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), whose inspectors found the services to be effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

The verdict delighted Coun Patricia Bradwell, who is the executive member for children’s services at the council.

Coun Bradwell said: “This is a really positive report, which confirms we are providing good services for children, young people and their families and carers.

“I am pleased that inspectors can see we have a clear vision for the services we need to provide for local people.

“We receive strong support from all staff and involve parents and children in all the decisions that affect them.”

Coun Bradwell paid tribute to the staff and wanted to congratulate them for “doing so much to ensure effective support is provided on a daily basis.”

She added: “While there is a lot to celebrate in this report, we recognise there are things we can do better, and we are targeting those areas to make sure practice is as good as it can be, and staff feel fully supported and valued.”

The CQC report highlighted several areas of good practice, including staff caring for children and families with compassion, providing emotional support.

Staff recognised and reported safety incidents, knew how to keep children safe and clearly documented risk assessments.

They also worked well with other agencies, and planned innovative services to meet the needs of youngsters, taking into account their individual needs.

The imspector also praised the council’s vision for the future of services and the commitmentof managers to ensure high quality and to keep improving.

Among the areas requiring improvement, according to the CQC report, are hand hygiene, the cleaning of toys and sufficient space for privacy and confidentiality at some children’s centres.

Inspectors also questioned whether the number of health visitors for children was adequate. There had been a small number of vacancies, most of which had now been filled.

It was acknowledged that a continuous programme of recruitment was in place, and the council would ensure that students would be offered posts once they had qualified and that relief staff would be used where necessary.