Foston Hall Prison (Health Care Centre)

On this page

• Overview
• Learning culture
• Safe systems, pathways and transitions
• Safeguarding
• Involving people to manage risks
• Safe environments
• Safe and effective staffing
• Infection prevention and control
• Medicines optimisation

We assessed 2 quality statement for this key question. We found the service had made sufficient progress to address the regulatory breaches found at our previous assessment. Processes for monitoring fridge temperatures and taking action had improved and previous vacant roles in primary care had been recruited to.

Find out what we look at when we assess this area in our information about our new Single assessment framework.

The judgement for Learning culture is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Safe key question.

The judgement for Safe systems, pathways and transitions is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Safe key question.

The judgement for Safeguarding is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Safe key question.

The judgement for Involving people to manage risks is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Safe key question.

The judgement for Safe environments is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Safe key question.

At our previous inspection we found there was insufficient oversight of primary care services. The practice nurse and primary care lead roles had been vacant for several months which created an increased workload for the GP service, and the risk of clinical tasks not being completed in a timely manner due to time constraints.

At this assessment we found both the clinical lead and practice nurse posts had been recruited to which helped ensure oversight of primary care services. Three additional GP clinic sessions each week had been added as well as daily sessions with an advanced clinical practitioner (ACP) which ensured both good access for patients as well as sufficient time to be able to review and respond to tasks. A series of staff engagement sessions had been delivered to develop a shared appreciation of roles and responsibilities within the primary care service.

The judgement for Infection prevention and control is based on the latest evidence we assessed for the Safe key question.

At our last inspection we found that there were no consistent visits from a pharmacist and patients did not have access to one. This was a repeated recommendation from a previous inspection in November 2021.

At this assessment, we found improvements. The provider had completed a business case which had been submitted to NHSE and funding secured to allow them to recruit a part time pharmacist. The member of staff had started in June 2026 and was going through their induction period at the time of this assessment. In the interim period the GP and ACP were offering structured medicine reviews and sessions to patients. Regular pharmacy specific supervision sessions will be facilitated. In addition, the weekly safer prescribing meetings and complex care meetings continued to oversee complex prescribing decisions and patients who were prescribed multiple medicines.

At our last inspection we found that fridge temperature monitoring documents did not evidence action taken or escalation where temperatures were out of recommended range.

At this assessment, we found improvements. The fridge temperature monitoring proforma had been revised to improve usability and ensure there was a clear record of any remedial action taken when temperatures were outside the required range. There were also processes in place for agency nurses who did not have access to the relevant recording systems. Daily assurance was reported at the daily team meeting and a weekly compliance check was in place.

At our last inspection we found medicines in emergency bags were not always dated or stored appropriately which created a risk of their integrity being compromised. These issues had not been highlighted by the provider’s internal audit systems.

At this inspection we found that storage of emergency medicine guidance had been added to the emergency bag check list and the emergency bag audit tool has been added to the team training and supervision schedule to ensure that staff were familiar with this. We found that medicines had been correctly labelled when they had been removed from the fridge for storage.