Archived: Big White Wall Head Office

We rated The Big White Wall Head Office as good because:

• There were sufficient staff to meet people’s needs safely.

• Staff had received and were up to date with appropriate mandatory training. Therapy staff completed a comprehensive induction to prepare them for their role.

• Policies and procedures for managing risk were in place. Staff had a good understanding of these and followed them consistently to protect people.

• Safeguarding arrangements were in place and staff were aware of the procedures to follow so that any safeguarding concerns were raised appropriately.

• People’s needs were assessed and reviewed so that the service ensured people were receiving the treatment they needed. Risk assessments were reflected in the treatment plan. The service worked with other healthcare providers when people were discharged.

• Treatment was planned and delivered in line with current evidence based guidance, standards and best practice.

• Consent to treatment was sought prior to the start of each therapy session. Staff had undertaken training in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and had completed other mandatory training.

• People were treated with kindness, dignity and respect. People told us the service was professional and live therapy had helped them.

• People were at the centre of their care and treatment and were involved in making decisions about their treatment.

• People could access live therapy in a timely manner. The service operated out of hours and at the weekend, this allowed people to have more flexibility in arranging their therapy sessions and was responsive to individual need.

• People’s concerns and complaints were listened to, addressed in a timely manner and used to improve the service.

• Staff enjoyed working at the service and were committed to providing good quality care and support to people.

• The service had been nominated for and had won several awards. The Big White Wall was the winner in the 2015 Digital Entrepreneur Awards, technical innovation within the public sector and won the Women in IT awards for Innovator of the year 2016.

• The Big White Wall team had several articles published in journals such as the British Journal of General Practice and Current Psychiatry reports.

However:

• Systems to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service were not fully developed and embedded within the organisation. This meant there was a risk that areas that required improvement would not be identified.

• Arrangements to share learning from incidents took place during supervision only. There was no system to share meeting minutes where incidents were discussed.

• Supervision records contained brief information about ongoing treatment and risk.

• Regular staff meetings with therapy staff did not take place.

• Arrangements were not in place for the continued professional development (CPD) of therapy staff. Staff were only offered mandatory training.