English Institute of Sport - Lilleshall

This service is rated as Good overall. The service has not previously been inspected.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection at The English Institute of Sport – Lilleshall on 9 February 2023 as part of our inspection programme. The location had not previously been inspected or rated.

This service is registered with Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 in respect of some, but not all, of the services it provides. There are some exemptions from regulation by CQC which relate to particular types of regulated activities and services and these are set out in Schedule 1 and Schedule 2 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.

The Director of Clinical Governance, Dr Anita Biswas, is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the CQC to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The location is registered with CQC to carry out diagnostic and screening regulated activities. The services provided at this location which are not in scope include physiotherapy and psychology.

Four athletes provided feedback about the service via our Give Feedback on Care form via our website. Feedback from all 4 athletes was very positive. The names of specific staff were shared by 1 athlete for having such a positive impact and for taking every opportunity for ensuring they were in the best position they could be in when rehabilitating. Another athlete told us the team had been lifesaving during their career. One athlete told us EIS-Lilleshall was a fantastic facility with fantastic staff and every time they had accessed the service, they had a clear programme to regain their full fitness.

Our key findings were:

• There were systems and processes in place to safeguard athletes from abuse. However, not all staff had completed the required level of safeguarding children training.
• The service had systems in place to identify, investigate and learn from incidents.
• Athletes received effective care and treatment that met their needs within an appropriate timescale.
• Athletes received clear information about their proposed treatment which enabled them to make informed decisions.
• The service ensured that care and treatment was delivered according to evidence-based guidelines and current best practice.
• The premises were safe, clean and suitable for the provision of care provided.
• The service had some systems in place to review the effectiveness and appropriateness of the care and treatment it provided.
• Systems, processes and records had been established to seek consent and to offer coordinated and athlete-centred care.
• Clinical staff were registered with the appropriate governing body and there was a system in place to ensure they were up to date with revalidation.
• Staff enjoyed working at the service and were supported to maintain the necessary skills and competence to support athletes’ needs.
• Athletes were treated with compassion, kindness, dignity, respect and seen as individuals.
• The provider and staff team demonstrated a positive culture and a commitment to the delivery of athlete-centred care and treatment and continuous learning and improvement.
• The provider had a clear vision and strategy and culture that put athletes at the centre of their care.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• Make all staff aware of the designated safeguarding lead and ensure that they have received the required level of safeguarding training appropriate to their role.
• Obtain assurances from the landlord that recommendations made in the fire and legionella risk assessments have been actioned and completed.
• Review staff essential training requirements to include infection prevention control and learning disability and autism for all staff and training in the mental capacity act (MCA) for clinical staff.
• Consider developing a formalised system to capture feedback from athletes to improve services.

Dr Sean O’Kelly BSc MB ChB MSc DCH FRCA

Chief Inspector of Hospitals and Interim Chief Inspector of Primary Medical Services